Gujarat: 3.5 kg tumour attached to infant girl’s head removed

SURAT: In a rare and complex surgery performed at New Civil Hospital (NCH) in the city, neurosurgeons removed a tumour of the size of a head attached to a 16-day-old girl’s head on Tuesday.

The girl was brought to the city by her parents from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, and after surgery her condition was declared stable. The parents lived such a tensed life due to the medical crisis that they are yet to name the child.

Born with a huge tumour attached to her head, it was equally painful for her parents — Santoshikumari and Rahul Mishra. But the labourer couple did not lose hope and searched for options to get their daughter cured. They approached doctors at government hospital in different places in UP including Lucknow, but the doctors there were unable to perform the surgery. Ultimately, Rahul contacted his brother Amrikaprasad in Surat and sought his help.

The couple arrived in the city earlier this month and visited NCH for treatment. A team of doctors — Dr Mukesh Pancholi, head of surgery department, and Dr Jigar Shah, a visiting neurosurgeon at NCH —examined the case. “It was a challenging surgery as the MRI reports suggested. But we decided to give a try though the chances of survival were very less,” said Shah.

The tumor was of 18 cm diameter and of 3.5 kg weight.

“It is a new life for my daughter and the family as well. We are thankful to the doctors and the hospital. We were told at a private hospital that the surgery might cost Rs 4 lakh but here we could get it done with no cost,” said Rahul, who does labour job in New Delhi.

“The surgery was done successfully and the girl is stable and under observation in NICU. The surgery was done by a visiting neurosurgeon who provides services under Rogi Kalyan Samiti,” said Dr Ganesh Govekar, in-charge superintendent of the NCH.