Baby from Gaza saved at Meyer Hospital after removal of two-kilo tumor

A premature baby girl from Gaza has been successfully operated on at the Meyer Children’s Hospital in Florence to remove a massive tumor weighing about two kilograms. The newborn, delivered at just 33 weeks of pregnancy, arrived in Italy when she was only ten days old, suffering from a rare sacrococcygeal teratoma — a type of tumor that occurs in about one in every 40,000 to 50,000 births.

The delicate surgery, lasting around two and a half hours, was led by Dr. Enrico Ciardini and his team. The mass was located at the base of the baby’s spine and weighed nearly three times her body weight. Before the procedure, she weighed 4.3 kilograms, dropping to 1.5 kilograms immediately after.

“This was an extremely rare and complex case, both for the type of tumor and for its exceptional size,” explained Dr. Ciardini. “A highly specialized and timely intervention was crucial to give this child the best possible quality of life.”

Now 28 days old, the baby is recovering in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Meyer. “She arrived in serious condition, also affected by an infection, but she is now improving steadily,” said Dr. Marco Moroni, head of the unit. “The surgical wound was significant, given the size of the tumor, but it is healing day by day. The road will be long, yet we are optimistic.”

The baby and her family reached Florence during the night between September 29 and 30 through a humanitarian assistance program organized by the Italian government, with support from the Cross association and the Prefecture of Florence. They are now being hosted in an accommodation facility connected to the Meyer network. The hospital’s social services, together with cultural mediators provided by the Meyer Foundation, are accompanying the family throughout their stay and recovery.

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