Doctors give new lease of life to five-year-old child

A successful 'bypass' surgery was conducted recently on a five-year-old girl at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research here for a rare brain ailment, hospital sources said today.
"The child was diagnosed as suffering from Moya Moya disease, which is a rare congenital disorder affecting supply of blood to the brain," Dr Roopesh Kumar, Additional Professor and Head of Department of Neuro Surgery in JIPMER, said.
Dr Kumar said the girl, hailing from Ulundurpet in the neighbouring Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, was not able to move her right limbs and had "transient periods of unresponsiveness."
On examination, it was found that the entire brain of the child on its left side was found non-functional and some of the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain were also found to be blocked completely.

After the surgery which lasted six hours, the doctors were able to successfully establish connection of blood vessels running outside the skull to the blood vessels in the brain surface to augment flow of blood.
The patient recovered well and scan revealed improved circulation to the brain and her right side limb movements also gradually improved, the doctor said in a statement, adding, she was discharged a week later.