9-year-old treated for Klippel-Feil Syndrome

Neuro and CT Surgeons at MaxCure Hospitals in the city performed a life-saving surgery on a nine-year-old boy, Nizar, who was suffering from a rare congenital deformity called Klippel-Feil Syndrome.

The surgery was performed to the child for rare spinal cord developmental problem in the neck associated with a large lump in the chest. A team of six senior doctors and 15-membered staff were involved in the procedure.

Sharing details of the procedure on Wednesday, Dr Ratnakar, consultant Neurosurgeon at MaxCure Hospitals said, “Nizar was brought to us in November and the family said that he was suffering from breathlessness from childhood. Due to the swellings in the neck and chest, there was a compression on oesophagus and trachea causing breathlessness.”

“The surgery was done in three sittings; first for the neck swelling, second for collection in the neck and the third for chest swelling,” informed the doctor. “Nizar is doing well with no complaints. This condition is a genetic disorder, which has multiple anomalies in which spinal cord malformation is one of the manifestations,” he added.

Dr Krishna Prasad, Director and Chief Cardio Thoracic Surgeon, MaxCure Hospital said, “This is a rare case because the thoracic (chest) component was different from the neck component, which accumulated fluid and was increasing in size and compressing important structures.

Removal of this can be fatal because it was attached to heart and great vessels. We managed it with two staged operations and drained the fluid completely without any damage to chest structures.”

Members of the surgery team included anaesthesiologists Dr Chakradhar Thota, Dr Sunita and Dr RR Reddy and surgeons Dr Ratnakar, Dr Kalyan, Dr Krishna Prasad and Dr Vishal V Kante.