Kota surgeon claims to detect rare disease in 2-month-old girl
“During biopsy, Intraventricular Aspergillosis was found in the girl so it is probably the only case where infection has been reported in any live patient of a tender age of two months,” Dr Sachidanand Gautam said.
KOTA: A neurosurgeon at the government-run Maharao Bhim Singh Hospital in Kota has claimed to have detected Intraventricular Aspergillosis — a fungal infection in the brain -- in a two- month-old girl patient. The doctor said it may be the first such case recorded in a live patient of such tender age.
Dr Sachidanand Gautam said he will now send the findings to international medical journals.
“A two-month-old baby girl from Madhya Pradesh’s Soyat village was referred to the MBS Hospital from Jhalawar. She had symptoms of the fungal infection in her brain,” Gautam said. “The infant was found to be suffering from hydrocephalus during a CT scan.”
During the procedure, small webs and tiny tumours were seen in the brain of the infant, he said.
Gautam said usually when the infection acquires the form of a tumour in the brain, it can be diagnosed in a CT scan but when the infection is submerged in the cerebro-spinal fluid of the brain, then it becomes difficult to detect.
“During biopsy, Intraventricular Aspergillosis was found in the girl so it is probably the only case where infection has been reported in any live patient of a tender age of two months,” he said.
In 2006, a European journal had reported Interventricular Aspergillosis being detected during the autopsy of a dead patient.
“The infant is stable after the neurosurgical procedure and anti-fungal treatment has been started,” he added.
Intraventricular Aspergillosis is a fungal infection that spreads through blood and affects people suffering from low immunity or having diseases like AIDS, cancer, uncontrolled diabetes and pregnancy. “We will send the case to international medical journals for publication, considering the rare nature of the detection,” he said.
Anesthesiologists Dr Usha Daria and Dr Anubhav Sharma assisted Gautam in the neurosurgical operation while Dr Rajeev Saxena of pathology department conducted the biopsy. Intraventricular Aspergillosis is a curable disease and the girl can be cured through treatment and surgeries, he said.