Doctors at AIIMS, New Delhi removed a protruding portion of a three-month-old Bangladeshi baby's brain that had grown into a massive cyst the size of his head. The boy had enormous occipital encephalocele, a rare congenital condition.
Dr. Deepak Kumar Gupta, Professor of the Department of Neurosurgery at AIIMS told PTI, "The massive cyst has the potential to rupture and cause meningitis, which might lead to death".
Besides removing the cyst during the three-hour procedure, the doctors covered the functional area of the brain by widening the skull.
"Large swelling from behind the skull causes difficulty in positioning the baby, difficulty in feeding and nursing, and there is always a fear of sudden rupture of the swelling containing brain tissues," he stated.
"After evaluating the baby's condition, we decided to perform the surgery. On December 12, the surgery was done during which the non-functional protruding part of the brain which had taken the shape of a cyst was excised, all normal brain tissues were preserved and expansile cranioplasty was done at the same time giving space to the brain to continue to grow in future," said Dr Gupta.
The neurosurgeon said that the mother's lack of consumption of folates (Folic acid tablets) might have been the cause of the condition. "The need for folic acid supplementation in all women in the reproductive age group trying to conceive is emphasized by this case", Dr. Gupta said.
"This is to help countries reach their 2030 Sustainable Development Goals by reducing the prevalence of spina bifida and anencephaly, encephalocele, and related impairment and mortality," he said.
