Doctors have successfully operated on a seven-month-old boy whose family were shunned after he was diagnosed with what is thought to be the world’s largest head.
Little Mrityunjay’s neighbours dubbed him ‘ghost baby’ and ‘giant head’ after his skull swelled to a staggering 96cm.
The seven-month-old boy is believed to have had the world’s largest head after he suffered from a condition known as hydrocephalus
But doctors have now removed 3.7 liters of fluid from Mrityunjay Das and managed to reduce the size of his head to 70cm in the last month and a half.
Dr Dilip Parida, superintendent of the AIIMS hospital at Bhuwaneshwar, said:
“The child was admitted on November 20 with the head containing almost 5.5 liters of fluid.We have removed 3.7 liters of fluid so far by external ventricular drainage.
“Now, the circumference of the head has come down from 96cm to 70cm. The cognitive functions of the child have improved a lot, he is stable and has responded well to the treatment.”Surgeons are now expected to carry our cranoplasty in order to reshape the skull of the boy, who is from Ranpur in Nayagarh district, India.
Mrityunjay’s parents’ Kamalesh Das and Kavita said their family had been shunned by neighbours since the boy’s birth.
Kamalesh, 35, who works in Kolkata, said:
“People would call our baby a “ghost” because of his unusual appearance.”As his head reduces to a normal size, the attitude of our neighbours and villagers will change.
“They will stop calling him derogatory names like “barka matha” (giant head) or “ghost baby”
Culled from Daily Mirror
