Baby Roona undergoes reconstructive surgery

Baby Roona, who had to undergo a series of surgeries at a hospital in Gurgaon few months ago for hydrocephalus, underwent a reconstructive surgery on Friday in a city hospital in Gurgaon.

The child of a daily wage labourer from Tripura, two-year-old Roona Begum was suffering from hydrocephalus, a rare disorder that has caused her head to swell to an unprecedented 94 cm.

She was admitted to Gurgaon's Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) in Haryana April this year at the age of 18 months, and she underwent multiple complex procedures to bring her head circumference down to 58 cm.

She received overwhelming support after her extraordinary case was publicized all over the country. The baby girl has a rare condition called hydrocephalus, which has lead to her head swelling up to a whopping 30-inch diameter.

What is hydrocephalus?

Hydrocephalus is an extremely rare condition that affects only about one in 500 children the world over. The word 'hydrocephalus' is derived from the Greek words; 'hydro' meaning 'water' and 'cephalus' meaning'head', literally meaning 'water on the brain'. This condition is characterized by excessive fluid build up in the head of a baby. Although the word refers to 'water', it is not water that accumulates in the brain, but CSF or cerebro-spinal fluid that accumulates within the ventricles (spaces in the brain) of the brain. This accumulation leads to widening of these spaces leading to unnatural pressure being exerted on the tissue of the brain.

The CSF is important for the proper functioning of the brain and one of its main functions is to act as a 'shock absorber' so that in the case of any injury to the head, the brain is kept well cushioned. Secondly, it acts as a medium for exchange of nutrients between the brain and the body, it also helps to carry away the waste produced by the brain. Thirdly, it helps by maintaining a constant pressure within the brain. This is essential because the brain does not respond well to varying blood pressure that is exerted by the blood vessels around the brain.

Since CSF is continuously produced, the process that excretes excess CSF is essential to the proper functioning of the brain, an over accumulation of this fluid could cause havoc within the organ.

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