Ahmedabad surgeons have removed a 3.5 kg tumour from the head of a seven-month-old girl who, at 6.5 kg, weighed less than the tumour — the baby's rare birth defect occurs in one out of 5,000-10,000 births. Indeed, the team which operated on the girl, Fatima, said that the case was among the rarest in the country, reports Ahmedabad Mirror.
Dr Anirudh Shah, who performed the surgery, said that Fatima had a large encephalocele, a defect characterised by sac-like protrusions of the brain, and the membranes that cover it, through openings in the skull.
"The defect begins early during pregnancy when a part of the developing baby's skull does not close completely," Shah said. "This causes a part of the baby's brain to come out through the hole in the skull."
Fatima was born to Shabana and Samiulbashir Qureshi, who earns daily wage as a lari puller and makes only around Rs1,200 every month. When Fatima was delivered, she had a lemon-sized swelling at the back of the head. The family, however, did not seek treatment because they did not have enough money.
