In a first for India, a 20-day-old baby weighing just 1.16 kg underwent a successful brain surgery at the Faridabad-based, 300-bed Sarvodaya Hospital and Research Centre. This baby has become the lowest-weighing baby ever to undergo craniotomy which is 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. The Sarvodaya Hospital has applied for the Limca Book of Records and the Guinness Book of World Records to recognise this unheard-of surgical feat.
The premature baby was one among the twins born preterm at 33 weeks to Deevakar Jha and Deepa Mishra. The baby was referred to the Sarvodaya Hospital for respiratory distress and perinatal asphyxia, where a team of surgeons led by Dr Pankaj Dawar and Dr Mukesh Pandey, took the child under their supervision.
Explaining the case, Dr Dawar, the Senior Consultant, Centre for Brain and Spine, Sarvodaya Hospital and Research Centre, said, “At birth, the baby weighed 1.160 kg, but had perinatal asphyxia and respiratory distress thereafter and thus was immediately admitted to the hospital. He was put on the ventilator for five days. However, on the 19th day since his birth, the baby suffered from a seizure. A MRI scan revealed a large intracranial blood clot inside the skull, probably from a bleeding disorder . For the surgery, his skull was opened to expose the brain (mini-craniotomy) and then the blood clot (hematoma) was successfully removed. With this, he has become the baby with the lowest weight to ever undergo a brain surgery in India and also probably in the world as well.”
According to Dr Pahuja, Consultant, Department of Anaesthesia, Sarvodaya Hospital and Research Centre, brain surgery of a baby with such low weight has not been done before in the country. the doctor explained that this requires very careful consideration and specialised equipment for anaesthesia. Dr Sushil Singla, Senior Consultant and the HOD, Department of Paediatrics, Sarvodaya Hospital and Research Centre, added, “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 the successful surgery, the baby is perfectly fine. He is gaining weight and meeting all neural milestones adequately as reported during the last follow up visit.”
Sarvodaya Hospital recently expanded its footprint in the national capital by opening a unique standalone daycare centre for cancer patients in South Delhi. It provides full nursing care and support to cancer patients in surrounding areas who need to undergo chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted cancer therapy, but do not wish to visit a hospital.
