Surgeons at the Faridabad-based 300-bed Sarvodaya Hospital and Research Centre (SHRC) have successfully conducted brain surgery on a 19-day-old baby boy weighing a little over one kilogramme. This is the first time in India that neurosurgery of such a low-weighing baby has been done by opening the skull and removing a life-threatening blood clot from the brain, which caused a seizure in the neonate. The condition would have proved fatal had it not been treated promptly.
Respiratory distress
The premature baby was one among twins born pre-term at 33 weeks to parents Deepa Mishra and Deevakar Jha. The baby was referred to Sarvodaya Hospital for respiratory distress and perinatal asphyxia. A team of surgeons led by Dr. Pankaj Dawar and Dr. Mukesh Pandey took the child under their supervision.
Dr. Pankaj Dawar, Senior Consultant, Centre for Brain and Spine, SHRC, said: “On day 19 of his birth, the baby suffered from seizure. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan revealed a large intra-cranial blood clot inside the skull. Weighing only 1.16 kg, he was wheeled into the operation theatre and the blood clot (hematoma) was successfully removed. With this, he has become the baby with the lowest weight to ever undergo brain surgery in India and probably in the world.”
Dr. Manish Pahuja, Consultant, Department of Anaesthesia, SHRC, said, “Brain surgery of a baby of such low weight has not been done before in the country. This required very careful consideration and specialised equipment for anaesthesia.’’
As per Dr. Sushil Singla, Senior Consultant and Head, Department of Paediatrics, SHRC, said, “The presence of a blood clot in the brain of a baby of such age and low weight posed a huge challenge for us. If untreated, the condition would have proved fatal. Even if the baby had survived, he would have suffered from neural problems and the brain would not have developed fully. After successful brain surgery and removal of the blood clot, the baby is perfectly fine. He is gaining weight and meeting all neural milestones adequately at last follow-up visit.”