9-month-old with rare disorder undergoes skull surgery in Gurugram hospital

GURUGRAM: A nine-month-old infant born with a rare genetic disorder has successfully undergone a skull surgery in a city hospital.
According to doctors, Apert Syndrome causes skeletal abnormalities and occurs when the baby is still in the womb, affecting the skull, face, and at times even toes and fingers.
Right after the infant was born, his condition was visible due to peculiar grotesque facial features and doctors had at that time recommended the first surgery after nine months.
Apert syndrome occurs in 1 per 65,000 to 2,00,000 births across the globe.
The condition can affect the child’s intelligence and hamper brain development, but once treated completely he will have a normal life expectancy and will be just like any other child, doctors said. This is the hope that made his parents go on.
Dr Sumit Sinha, director (neuro and spine surgery) at Paras Hospitals, and his team were able to remodel the baby’s skull with the help of absorbable polymer plates. The surgery was conducted on November 29, 2022.
The infant will need plastic surgery to reconstruct his face at five or six years of age, doctors said.
The child’s parents live in Dwarka. His father is a doctor and had faith that there is a bright future for his child and did not give up.
“After assessing his rare condition, our team of neurosurgeons decided to first illustrate the re-modelling and then proceed for surgery. When in the womb, the bones in his skull fused with one another, which restricted the growth of his brain. He had a visibly small skull. The situation is rare, but what is rarer is the association of other things in the child, like fused fingers in both hands. There were also facial abnormalities like protrusion of the jaw and eyeballs,” Dr Sinha said.
Post-surgery, the baby has a normal-looking skull now and is recovering. His next surgery will be to separate fingers of both hands after he reaches 1-2 years of age.
“I and my wife were excited when my son was about to be born, but we were shattered after understanding his condition. It was not easy to make her and my parents understand that this can be made right, but thanks to the doctors at Paras Hospitals, I am grateful that we could visit in time and get the surgery done. I hope he plays with other kids soon and we don’t have to keep him isolated to save him from the judgmental looks of people,” said Dr Mohammad Shaukat Ali, the child’s father.
Meanwhile, doctors suggested that expecting mothers go for prenatal tests so that any complications can be detected in time.
The first prenatal test has to be done before 20 weeks of pregnancy, and the second after the 28th week. If a condition is detected, termination of pregnancy can save a lot of issues in the future, if done in time, they said.
Doctors also recommended that mothers take care of their diet during pregnancy, adding that inclusion of foods with folic acid and essential vitamins is a must.