Doctors remove Napoles uterus, ovaries

MANILA, Philippines - Businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles on Wednesday morning underwent a two-hour hysterectomy at the Ospital ng Makati (Osmak) for the removal of her uterus and two ovaries.

According to Dr. Efren Domingo, one of her doctors, the operation began on time at about 8 a.m. and finished at about 10 a.m.

“The operation was uneventful. We performed a total hysterectomy and a bilateral salpingostomy, meaning, we removed the entire uterus and both ovaries. The indication for the operation, as you may have known before, is because of severe adenomyosis, that's her pathology,” Domingo told reporters at a briefing.

Hysterectomy is the removal of the uterus and ovaries while in a bilaterial salpingosotomy, the fallopian tubes are surgically removed.

Domingo also clarified that Napoles had suffered from a condition called adenomyosis of the uterus with multiple adenomyomata or a tumor of the utrerus with multiple myomas.

“And just to be very clear, and exact, I like that to be definite, because it has been circulated in different terminologies which were not actually correct in several months. Her disease is called, severe adenomyosis of the uterus with multiple adenomyomata. This is technical and highly medical, but it is a tumor of the uterus, whereby, the blood of the endometrial cavity enters into the myometrium and creates blood lakes in the myometrium. And in addition, the myometrium form tumors or myomas. And that caused the uterine muscle to form a mass. In Tagalog, ang kanyang matris ay nagkaroon ng bukol, ang tawag ay severe adenomyosis at mayroong mga kasamang mga myoma,” he explained.

Domingo said Napoles’ condition was the reason for her profuse bleeding and pain over the past six months. Domingo added that Napoles’ condition was also “life threatening.”

“She developed this, over several months, to almost a year. Such that, it led to profuse hemorrhage and pain over the past six months. And it became, life-threatening,” he said.

Domingo said that after the operation, Napoles was taken to a recovery room. He described his condition as “stable.”

“So, we finished the operation in 2 hours, she remains stable and the operation is uneventful. At the moment, she is now at the recovery room, she is awake, coherent with stable vital signs. So, we are happy about the outcome and we would like to share with you the good outcome and findings of the said operation,” he said.

Domingo also said that the biopsy conducted on Napoles last April 8 showed that her tumor was “pre-cancerous.”

“I say pre. It is not cancerous but is also neither benign. It is a transition from benign to malignant,” he said.

Domingo said it would take at least one week to for Napoles to recover from the surgery, like any other patient who underwent a hysterectomy without complications. She would also be required to undergo check-ups for the next three to four weeks.

“I would wish that she would wish that she would recover faster, but as to her stay in the hospital, outside of the medical aspect I would rather refer it to the authorities,” Domingo said.

Domingo said the mass or surgical specimens removed from Napoles was given to her husband, Jaime, being the nearest of kin present during the operation.

Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda earlier issued an order authorizing Napoles' own choice of doctors to participate in her treatment.

The court earlier granted Napoles' motion to undergo surgery and be confined, but not at St. Luke's Medical Center, the hospital of her choice. Instead, the court chose OsMak, a public tertiary hospital within the court's jurisdiction.

Dr. Perrty Peralta, Osmak director earlier said a team of Osmak doctors composed of a cardiologist, an endocrinologist, an anesthesiologist, a gynecologist-oncologist and a pathologist will be assisting Napoles’s personal doctors from the St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global.

Peralta added that Napoles will shoulder the fees of her private doctors as her request to have them treat her “will incur additional charges." - with interns Kim Nunez and Angelyn Mesa