Seven-month-old Mrityunjay was born with a giant head, measuring 96cm in circumference – far bigger than the 34cm average for a baby his age.
Terrified for their son’s life, his parents Kamalesh Das and Kavita, from Ranpur in India rushed him to several hospitals before he was treated by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Delhi.
Their specialists revealed the little boy suffers from an extreme form of hydrocephalus – a build-up of fluid on the brain.
Medics at the government-run hospital in Bhuwaneshwar have now successfully removed 3.7 litres of fluid from his head, reducing it to 70cm after just six weeks of treatment.
Dr Dilip Parida, superintendent of the hospital, said: “The child was admitted with us since November 20.
“The head contained almost 5.5 litres of fluid.
“We have removed 3.7 litres of fluid so far by external ventricular drainage.
“Subsequently, we have placed a shunt inside baby head which is working perfectly.
“Now, the circumference of the head has come down from 96cm to 70cm.
“The cognitive functions of the child have improved a lot.
“The child is stable and has responded well to the treatment.”
But the real challenge for doctors now lies in adjusting Mrityunjay’s skull to reshape his head.
Dr Parida said: “Since the cranial bones are not fused and floating, now the real challenge is to find a way to adjust the cranial bones.
“We have applied bandages around the skull and planning to do cranoplasty at a later stage, if required.
“The baby was absolutely bed-ridden earlier, now it can take turns.
“We are happy with the developments and the parents are also happy to see the improvements.”
In 2013, toddler Roona Begum from Tripura in India, made headlines around the world when her head swelled to 94cm due to the same medical condition.
According to medical records, Roona’s head was the largest ever recorded, but doctors are checking to see if Mrityunjay’s is now the largest recorded case.
Father, Kamalesh, 35, works as a daily wage worker in Kolkata and his wife, Kavita, 30, is a stay-at-home mum.
Kavita said: “We didn’t know what to do, where to go?
“After making rounds of many other hospitals, we finally brought him here. I am thankful to the doctors for taking such a good care of our baby.
“They were like godsend to us. It has been a month since my baby has undergone treatment here.
“I can see for myself that his head has shrunk during the course of treatment.
“Earlier, he would be crying all the time, but I am happy to see the smile on his face.”
Father, Kamalesh, said: “Earlier, people would call our baby a “ghost” because of his unusual appearance.
Terrified for their son’s life, his parents Kamalesh Das and Kavita, from Ranpur in India rushed him to several hospitals before he was treated by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Delhi.
Their specialists revealed the little boy suffers from an extreme form of hydrocephalus – a build-up of fluid on the brain.
Medics at the government-run hospital in Bhuwaneshwar have now successfully removed 3.7 litres of fluid from his head, reducing it to 70cm after just six weeks of treatment.
Dr Dilip Parida, superintendent of the hospital, said: “The child was admitted with us since November 20.
“The head contained almost 5.5 litres of fluid.
“We have removed 3.7 litres of fluid so far by external ventricular drainage.
“Subsequently, we have placed a shunt inside baby head which is working perfectly.
“Now, the circumference of the head has come down from 96cm to 70cm.
“The cognitive functions of the child have improved a lot.
“The child is stable and has responded well to the treatment.”
But the real challenge for doctors now lies in adjusting Mrityunjay’s skull to reshape his head.
Dr Parida said: “Since the cranial bones are not fused and floating, now the real challenge is to find a way to adjust the cranial bones.
“We have applied bandages around the skull and planning to do cranoplasty at a later stage, if required.
“The baby was absolutely bed-ridden earlier, now it can take turns.
“We are happy with the developments and the parents are also happy to see the improvements.”
In 2013, toddler Roona Begum from Tripura in India, made headlines around the world when her head swelled to 94cm due to the same medical condition.
According to medical records, Roona’s head was the largest ever recorded, but doctors are checking to see if Mrityunjay’s is now the largest recorded case.
Father, Kamalesh, 35, works as a daily wage worker in Kolkata and his wife, Kavita, 30, is a stay-at-home mum.
Kavita said: “We didn’t know what to do, where to go?
“After making rounds of many other hospitals, we finally brought him here. I am thankful to the doctors for taking such a good care of our baby.
“They were like godsend to us. It has been a month since my baby has undergone treatment here.
“I can see for myself that his head has shrunk during the course of treatment.
“Earlier, he would be crying all the time, but I am happy to see the smile on his face.”
Father, Kamalesh, said: “Earlier, people would call our baby a “ghost” because of his unusual appearance.
“After the operation, I am sure the things are going to change as our baby’s head has already started to shrink gradually.
“As his head reduces to the normal size, the attitude of our neighbours and villagers would change.
“They would stop calling him by derogatory names like “barka matha” (giant head) or “ghost baby”.
“Now, I am sure that he will be able to lead a normal social life.”
Hydrocephalus is a congenital deformity in which cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the skull instead of flowing from brain to the spinal cord.
It was this build up that caused baby Mrityunjay’s head to swell.
The doctors said if he had been brought to the hospital immediately after birth, they would have been able to stop the swelling almost immediately.
Dr Parida said: “Eventually, this fluid enlarges and deforms the head.
“After the head size came to near normal size, a shunt was placed inside it. That takes care of the rest of the things.
“The life of the child is precious to us, so we went slow on the baby.”
“As his head reduces to the normal size, the attitude of our neighbours and villagers would change.
“They would stop calling him by derogatory names like “barka matha” (giant head) or “ghost baby”.
“Now, I am sure that he will be able to lead a normal social life.”
Hydrocephalus is a congenital deformity in which cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the skull instead of flowing from brain to the spinal cord.
It was this build up that caused baby Mrityunjay’s head to swell.
The doctors said if he had been brought to the hospital immediately after birth, they would have been able to stop the swelling almost immediately.
Dr Parida said: “Eventually, this fluid enlarges and deforms the head.
“After the head size came to near normal size, a shunt was placed inside it. That takes care of the rest of the things.
“The life of the child is precious to us, so we went slow on the baby.”
Music: "Jellyfish in Space" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: The Sun , Mirror
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