Doctors plan to carry out more surgery on a 2-year-old Indian girl to correct a rare disorder that caused her head to balloon to twice its normal size. Roona Begum, whose plight won international sympathy, has battled through a string of complex, life-saving surgeries which saw doctors drain fluid from her head and dramatically reduce the size of her skull.
After reviewing the baby's response to treatment, the neurosurgery team plans to "go ahead with the next round of procedures to further remodel her skull," the medical research institute which is treating her said in a statement.
The surgery is likely to take place next week, the Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurgaon, a satellite city of Indian capital New Delhi, said.
"The five surgeries we performed earlier have not only helped the child survive a potentially fatal condition but also enabled her to attain improved nutritional status," said neurosurgery director Sandeep Vaishya."This will be the first step in the next round of treatment for the child. We are monitoring her condition and will proceed with the surgery once we get a go-ahead from her attending paediatrician."
Roona, who lives in a village in the remote northeastern state of Tripura and whose parents are impoverished labourers, was born with hydrocephalus, a potentially fatal condition that causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain.
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