The 52-year-old woman with a 15cm 'sack of marbles' on her head

The woman with a ‘sack of marbles’ on her head: Doctors’ shock at finding dozens of globules (and HAIR) lurking in 52-year-old’s painless 15cm mass

• The 52-year-old had endured the painless tumour on her head since childhood
• Medics discovered the 15cm cyst was filled with fat globules and strands of hair 

An Indian woman had a 15cm-long cyst filled with hair and fat-like globules removed from her head. 

Grim images show the depth of the painless mass lodged on her scalp. 

The 52-year-old told doctors the cyst had grown slowly since she was a child.

But the unidentified woman of Bangalore, southern India, had never sought to have it removed. 

Publishing photographs of the mass in a medical journal, doctors said the abnormal tissue growths found lurking within the cyst were ‘varying sizes’ and resembled a ‘sack of marbles’.

The 52-year-old had endured the cyst gradually enlarging and swelling since childhood. But the unidentified woman from India had not sought to have it removed until attending hospital in Bangalore, southern India. Pictured, an MRI scan of the brain highlighting the cyst lodged on the scalp on the right

Writing in Radiology, doctors at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences said they believe the case is ‘uncommon’.

On arrival at the hospital, MRI scans showed the mass measured 15cm in length, 10cm in width and 12cm in height. 

The date of the incident was not revealed in the case report. 

After surgical removal, medics found the cyst contained fat-like molecules, spherical balls of keratin — a protein that helps form hair, nails and the skin’s outer layer — and hair floating in fluid. 

Publishing photographs of the mass in a medical journal, doctors said the abnormal tissue growths found lurking within the cyst were ‘varying sizes’ and resembled a ‘sack of marbles’

The molecules ‘had thick outer rims’, they noted. 

Microscopic examination of the tissue later confirmed it was a dermoid cyst, also known medically as a mature cystic teratoma. 

Dermoid cysts — which are non-cancerous — develop from embryonic cells and contain hair, fluid, teeth or skin glands, according to the NHS. 

It means the cells possess everything they need to morph into any of several types of tissue. 

It remains unclear why the strange and usually harmless phenomenon occurs.

Mature cystic teratomas are often found on the head and neck, doctors say. 

If the cyst does not cause any symptoms, patients may only need regular scans to monitor it, the NHS says. 

However, when a cyst is causing symptoms — such as becoming inflamed, changing colour or becoming bigger or triggering pain — it is usually removed by surgery.

Doctors can either remove it completely or partly — depending on the risk of damaging nearby structures.

Medics said they carefully monitored the woman’s progress in the six months after they removed of the cyst. 

‘No recurrence’ of the mass was discovered during this period, they noted.

What are dermoid cysts? 

A dermoid cyst is sac-like growth located on or in the skin. 

It is also known medically as a mature cystic teratoma. 

It contains fluid or semisolid material. Dermoid cysts occur during fetal development and are typically present at, or shortly after, birth. 

A mature teratoma is benign, meaning it is not cancerous. 

The cyst occurs when layers of specialized cells do not grow together properly, and cells that should be on the outside of the body become trapped inside the body — for example, cells from skin, sweat glands or hair. 

Over time, these cells continue to collect inside the cyst and the cyst grows. 

Dermoid cysts are usually found on the head, neck and face, but can occur anywhere on the body.

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