AIIMS to organise three-day conference on childhood diseases

The lectures, designed in such a way that the common man understands them, will be delivered by surgeons both from the country and abroad with focus on ailments like hydrocephalus, head injury, brain tumour and spinal dysraphism.

The lecture-series is part of the conference, Neuropedicon 2012, organised by All India Institute of Medical Sciences from November one to three.

The lectures will provide an opportunity for parents and children to interact directly with doctors and surgeons and get their doubts cleared.

"We firmly believe that these lectures will be very useful to common people and help us ameliorate morbidity and mortality of these potentially lethal diseases," Prof Y K Gupta, Spokesperson of AIIMS, said.

While spinal dysraphism is a condition in which a child is born with mass at back of spine or brain wherein part of brain, spinal cord or fluid comes out, hydrocephalus is a condition of excess accumulation of brain fluid.

Doctors at the AIIMS say both these medical conditions can be successfully managed by surgical intervention.

"Young children affected by these diseases are increasingly surviving into second and third decade of life," Prof A K Mahapatra of AIIMS said.

Prof B S Sharma, Head of Neurosurgery Department at AIIMS, will discuss about brain tumours which also affect children.

While prevention is topmost priority, early treatment of head injury also needs to be stressed upon, Gupta said.