Fatima Khatun 25, kisses the
head of her eighteen month old daughter, Roona Begum, suffering from
Hydrocephalus, in which cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain, at
their hut in Jirania village on the outskirts of Agartala.
Source: AFP
DOCTORS have conducted reconstructive surgery on a two-year-old Indian girl to correct her head which has ballooned to twice its normal size.
Roona Begum, whose plight attracted international sympathy,
underwent several rounds of surgery in May and June when doctors drained
excess fluid from her head and dramatically reduced the size of her
skull.
But she returned to the same hospital near New Delhi
earlier this month for what doctors hope will be a final round of
surgery which will see some of the bone removed from her skull which
will then be rebuilt.
"We are trying to reduce the bulk and the
weight of the head so her neck muscles can become stronger,"
neurosurgeon Sandeep Vaishya said after completing the latest surgery on
Friday at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute.
Roona, who
lives with her impoverished parents in a village in India's remote
northeast, was born with hydrocephalus, a potentially fatal condition
that causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain.
Her condition caused her head to swell to a circumference of 94
centimetres, putting pressure on her brain and making it impossible for
her to sit upright.
Publication of pictures taken by an AFP
photographer prompted the hospital to treat Roona for free, and the
surgeries which followed saw her head circumference shrink to 58
centimetres.
She was first admitted to the hospital in April where she spent 105 days before being discharged in August.
She will undergo another procedure early next month to compress her head further.
Although
Roona's skull is likely to remain large, she has a good chance of
developing normally, provided her neck muscles can grow strong enough to
support her head, doctors have said.
news.com.au
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