Russian Surgeons Find Fir Tree Inside a Man

ALien · 04-16-2009, 02:18 PM

Quote:

A fir tree has been found growing inside a man's lung by surgeons who were operating on him for suspected cancer.

The tree, measuring 5cm, was discovered by Russian doctors when they opened up Artyom Sidorkin, 28, to remove what they thought was a tumour.

Medical staff believe that Mr Sidorkin somehow inhaled a seed, which later sprouted into a small fir tree inside his lung.

The patient had complained of extreme pain in his chest and had been coughing up blood. Doctors were convinced he had cancer.

'We were 100 per cent sure,' said surgeon Vladimir Kamashev from Izhevsk in the Urals. 'We did X-rays and found what looked exactly like a tumour. I had seen hundreds before, so we decided on surgery.'

Before removing the major part of the man's lung, the surgeon investigated the tissue taken in a biopsy.

'I thought I was hallucinating,' said Dr Kamashev. 'I asked my assistant to have a look: "Come and see this - we've got a fir tree here".

'He nodded in shock. I blinked three times as I was sure I was seeing things.'

They believed the coughing of blood was caused by the tiny pine needles piercing blood capillaries. 'It was very painful. But to be honest I did not feel any foreign object inside me,' said Mr Sidorkin. 'I'm so relieved it's not cancer.'

The report appeared in popular tabloid Komsomolskaya Gazeta, and was picked up by Russian news service Novosti.

Tecnos · 04-17-2009, 06:48 AM

If you follow the link to the article and look at the image that is there of the thoracotomy that was performed. You will see an image of the alleged fir tree poking out of the chaps partially removed(!?) lung.

2 things point to this story being spurious.

1: The direction of the needles indicate that the end poking out of the chaps 'lung' is the root end. That is a twig, not a rooting tree.

2: The pine needles are green. indicating photosynthesis has been taking place. How?

Well actually 3 things point to this being a falsehood, why have they removed a good chunk of lung?

kidflash2008 · 04-17-2009, 10:53 AM

Good catches, Tecnos!

The man would of noticed if he inhaled a seed. The coughing would of started immediately, as the lungs would try to rid the foreign object.

Clifurd · 04-21-2009, 09:43 PM

That's what I was thinking. How could it get sunlight and is there really enough moisture in your lung to grow a tree? Did the root system start burrowing into is lung?

04-17-2009, 06:48 AM	#2
Tecnos Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: UK Posts: 419	If you follow the link to the article and look at the image that is there of the thoracotomy that was performed. You will see an image of the alleged fir tree poking out of the chaps partially removed(!?) lung. 2 things point to this story being spurious. 1: The direction of the needles indicate that the end poking out of the chaps 'lung' is the root end. That is a twig, not a rooting tree. 2: The pine needles are green. indicating photosynthesis has been taking place. How? Well actually 3 things point to this being a falsehood, why have they removed a good chunk of lung? __________________

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04-17-2009, 10:53 AM	#3
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	Good catches, Tecnos! The man would of noticed if he inhaled a seed. The coughing would of started immediately, as the lungs would try to rid the foreign object.

04-21-2009, 09:43 PM	#4
Clifurd Junior Investigator Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Iowa Posts: 61	That's what I was thinking. How could it get sunlight and is there really enough moisture in your lung to grow a tree? Did the root system start burrowing into is lung?