Surgeons in Tatarstan Remove Rare 11-cm "Devil's Horn" Growth

Surgeons in Tatarstan Remove Rare 11-cm "Devil's Horn" Growth

Surgeons at City Hospital No. 5 in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, successfully removed a rare cutaneous horn from a 30-year-old patient. The man explained that the growth — which he called his "devil's horn" — first appeared on the back of his head in 2022 and eventually reached 11 centimeters in length.

Vascular surgeon Ruzil Khurmatullin, who performed the procedure, said that in his 25 years of practice, this was the first time he had needed to remove a growth of such size.

The horn began forming in 2022 and initially caused no discomfort. Over time, however, it grew large enough to disrupt the patient's sleep, prompting him to seek medical attention. Following an examination, an oncologist referred him for surgery to remove the 11-centimeter growth.

Doctors explained that the rapid growth resulted from an abnormally accelerated proliferation of skin cells, which gradually hardened into the horn-like structure. Because there was a risk of malignant transformation, the surgery was performed under general anesthesia.

After the growth was removed, the patient was prescribed a course of treatment to prevent recurrence and was subsequently discharged from the hospital.

According to the hospital, no comparable cases of giant cutaneous horn removal have previously been documented in Russia. A handful of similar cases have been recorded in France, India, and China between the 19th and 20th centuries.