Doctors remove rare tumour from 6-month-old baby’s forehead

Six-month-old Meena looks as normal as any other child her age today. Soon, she will be leaving for her hometown in Sitapur district. However, some time ago, the baby was suffering from a complicated and rare vascular malformation (tumour of vessels) that had covered her entire forehead and right eye.

The growth appeared like a bulge from the forehead. Her family, from a poor financial background, had been refused surgery by several hospitals in the region. Most doctors said that the surgery would be very complicated nature and would involve high risks.

“It was certainly a challenging case as we were required

HER FAMILY, FROM A POOR FINANCIAL BACKGROUND, HAD BEEN REFUSED SURGERY BY SEVERAL HOSPITALS IN THE REGION

to save her eyes and make sure that the child’s brain was not harmed,” said Dr Vaibhav Khanna, craniofacial and microvascular surgeon at Healthcity Superspeciality Hospital and Trauma Centre, who operated on the baby.

The procedure, around two hours long, was performed by a team that included Dr Romesh Kohli, Dr SPS Tulsi, Dr Pramesh Agarwal and Dr Subodh Kumar.

“As the child belonged to a poor family, we also decided to bear a major portion of the cost of the treatment, the surgical procedure as well as her hospital stay. The surgery is like a new birth for the baby,” said Dr Khanna. The doctors involved in the case said that the success of the procedure also reflected the skill levels of the surgeons in the state. “Advanced surgical techniques need to be shared so that more children can benefit with early diagnosis and treatment,” said Dr Khanna, adding, “The operated child will simply need a few follow-ups and will live a normal life.”