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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The spokesperson for Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) made the following announcement today (June 22) regarding a missing specimen incident:
A female patient aged 51 with bilateral adnexal mass and uterus fibroid had bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy surgery performed in Tuen Mun Hospital on June 13. Some tissue specimens were found missing later. These specimens are for examination to help to diagnose the presence of cancer and to formulate subsequent treatment plan.
According to the medical record, gynaecologist first performed right salpingo-oophorectomy and specimen of the right fallopian tube and ovary was sent to the pathology laboratory for frozen section. Gynaecologist then went on to perform the left salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy. After the procedure, the gynaecologist put the left ovary and fallopian tube into a container to cut them open for examination. The uterus and fibroid were put into a specimen plastic bag with weight measured and medical record documented. The specimen plastic bag was then handled, sealed and arranged for sending to pathology laboratory by nurse for examination.
During the preparation of the specimens on June 16, staff in the pathology laboratory found that the plastic bag only contained the patient's uterus and fibroid but her left ovary and fallopian tube were found missing. The incident was reported to the hospital management and immediate search action was conducted, but the specimen cannot be found.
TMH had continued the examination of the patient's other specimens. The fibroid and the right ovarian mass were diagnosed to be benign. According to the operation record, the size of the right ovarian mass was several times larger than the left ovarian mass. And the left ovary, fallopian tube and the surrounding tissue have been thoroughly examined by the gynaecologist and it did not reveal any feature that was suggestive of malignancy. In this context, the chance of malignancy in her left ovarian mass is relatively low. TMH has met the concerned patient to express apology and explain the incident. TMH will closely follow up and monitor the patient's condition and has already arranged patient relations officer to render necessary assistance.
TMH is very concerned about the incident and had reported the incident to Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System on the next day (June 17) after discovering the missing specimen incident. TMH will investigate the incident and to make recommendation to avoid occurrence of similar incident.
Ends/Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Issued at HKT 20:39
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