A 14-year-old boy from Cuba has died after doctors in Miami removed a 10-pound tumor from his face. Emanuel Zayas was born with a rare disorder called polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, a condition that replaces multiple areas of bones with fibrous tissue and may cause fractures and deformity of the legs, arms and skull.
Doctors were able to control the condition with medication when he was younger, but at age 11, what was thought to be a pimple on his nose turned out to be an ossifying fibroma. Over the last three years, the benign tumor grew to approximately 10 pounds and the size of a basketball, CBS Miami reports.
Dr. Robert Marx, chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery at University of Miami Health System, announced at a press conference that he and other members of the oral and maxillofacial reconstructive team would perform a surgery lasting 10 to 14 hours to remove the tumor at Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Medical Center.
But on Friday, Marx announced on his Facebook page that despite early glimmers of hope, Zayas did not survive long after the surgery was completed.