Low folic acid can spark cyst

Surgery can remove sac-like growth

A neurosurgeon from Garden City Clinic in Johannesburg, Dr Yusuf Osman, said the condition appears to be a microcephaly (small head and brain) with a huge encephalocele

(cyst outside of skull).

Osman said encephalocele is a rare type of birth defect of the neural tube that affects the brain. He said it affects one out of 20 000 babies and he could only tell how long the baby can live after reading the x-ray.

“The neural tube is a narrow channel that folds and closes during the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy to form the brain and spinal cord,” he said.

Osman said encephalocele was a sac-like protrusion or projection of the brain and the membranes that cover it through an opening in the skull.

Encephalocele happens when the neural tube does not close completely during pregnancy. The result is an opening anywhere along the centre of the skull, often at the back of the head.

He said the causes of this congenital maldevelopment were mostly unknown.

“Some congenital anomalies are due to change in their genes or chromosomes. It might also be caused by a combination of genes and other factors, such as the things the mother comes in contact with in the environment or what the mother eats or drinks, or certain medicines she uses during pregnancy,” he said.

He said low intake of folic acid before getting pregnant and in early pregnancy increases the risk of having a pregnancy affected by neural tube defects. Osman said it could be treated but the outcome was poor.

“He (the neurosurgeon) will need to surgically remove the cyst outside of the skull and the outcome and prognosis is poor,” he said. – Boitumelo Tshehle