CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : PALO ALTO : Surgery Removes 303-Pound Cyst

A 303-pound ovarian cyst was removed from a woman who had postponed the operation for years out of fear of the surgical risks, Stanford University Hospital doctors said. The 34-year-old woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was reported “doing fine” after the six-hour operation, said Dr. Katherine O’Hanlan, who led the operating team. The prognosis for recovery was excellent, she said. The patient weighed 210 pounds after the 303-pound growth was removed. O’Hanlan said the abdominal mass was so large that none of the surgeons could lift it and, after it was removed, they rolled it onto a stretcher so that it could be cut up for microscopic examination. The woman had had the cyst for 10 years and had been bedridden for two years, fearing surgery after hearing it was risky, doctors said.