Cedars-Sinai team in Los Angeles delivers baby, removes 22-pound ovarian tumor in rare pregnancy
The team at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles helped deliver a baby boy while also removing a 22-pound ovarian tumor in what doctors are calling a "very rare abdominal ectopic pregnancy."
Suze Lopez, 41, was scheduled to have a 22-pound ovarian cyst removed when she found out she was pregnant, during a routine test before her planned surgery. The emergency room nurse from Bakersfield said the cyst had been growing for years and she had just become accustomed to irregular menstrual cycles and abdominal discomfort.
Lopez explained that she had been trying to have a second child for 17 years, and the news was something she had been eagerly waiting for, but was also aware it could've been a false positive result.
A few days after finding out she was pregnant, Lopez decided to share the news with her husband, Andrew, during a date at a Dodgers game. During the game, Lopez started having pain and they rushed to Cedars-Sinai.
A team of doctors and nurses under the direction of Dr. John Ozimek, medical director of Labor and Delivery at Cedars-Sinai, worked to stabilize her high blood pressure, ordered an MRI, blood work and an ultrasound. Ozimek said imaging revealed a "very rare abdominal ectopic pregnancy." Lopez was pregnant, but her "uterus was empty," he said.
He explained that his team discovered a nearly full-term baby boy developing in a small space in her abdomen near her liver.
"A pregnancy this far outside the uterus that continues to develop is almost unheard of," Ozimek said.
He said that as the baby continued to grow behind the mass, it pushed the cyst forward.
"It makes sense that she just thought the tumor was getting bigger again, not that she could be pregnant," Ozimek said.
Dr. Michael Manuel, of Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, said his team was tasked with figuring out how to deliver the baby, remove the cyst, while keeping Lopez healthy.
"In my entire career, I've never even heard of one (abdominal ectopic pregnancy) making it this far into the pregnancy," Manuel said.
Cedars-Sinai said it took about 30 experts from its Level IV Maternal Care Hospital to successfully handle the delivery and surgery. Once Manuel removed the cyst, Ozimek was able to deliver Lopez's baby.
Suze and Andrew Lopez named their son Ryu. He weighed 8 pounds and was born with very few health problems, doctors said.
"He is our gift. And Ryu and Suze are my miracles," Andrew said. "They let me in the operating room, and it was tough to watch what she was going through, and amazing to see Ryu delivered. So yes, many prayers have been answered."
