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A 7-year-old girl from Long Island, NY, is on her way home a little more than four weeks after receiving a historic(1) surgery(2) that involved(3) the removal(4) and partial re-implantation(5) of six organs(6) in order to resect(7) an abdominal(8) tumor(9) that otherwise would be inoperable(10). The 23-hour surgery, which began on Feb. 6, was led by Dr. Tomoaki Kato at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, and is the first reported pediatric(11) case of its kind.

Dr. Kato and his team of seven surgeons(12) and eight other clinicians(13) removed nearly every major organ(14) in the girl's abdominal cavity(15) -- small and large intestines(16), liver(17), pancreas(18), spleen(19) and stomach. Three separate surgical(20) teams worked to remove the tennis ball-sized(21) tumor, which was tangled around(22) vital organs(23) and essential blood vessels(24). One team worked on the abdominal cavity, while two others prepared the small and large intestines and liver, which were kept healthy outside the body using cold preservation fluid(25) of the kind used in transplantation(26). Throughout the surgery, the patient's father, a firefighter, was on standby(27) as a transplant donor(28) in case his daughter's liver was too damaged; it was determined to be healthy and viable(29). The liver, small and large intestines were re-implanted. However, her pancreas, spleen and stomach -- non-vital organs that had been compromised(30) by the tumor -- were unsuitable for(31) re-implantation.

While the tumor was rare, Dr. Kato notes that the surgical approach could be used for more common cancers(32).