Manipal Hospitals in the city performed a complicated surgery on a 30-day-old baby to remove foetal cyst on the spine, according to Ravikanth, consultant, neurosurgery, in the hospital.
He said the baby was brought to the hospital when she was 21 days old with swelling on her lower back with an opening and a watery discharge from the skin lesion. An MRI revealed that the baby had two spinal cords with a cyst. He said surgery was the only solution, but baby’s age made it very complicated.
The baby had two separate spinal cords and cyst was located within the cord. It’s a condition called Diastometa mylia, a rare congenital anomaly that results in the splitting of the spinal cord in a longitudinal (sagittal) direction, he explained.
He said surgery was done meticulously without damaging a single neural tissue. Post-operation, she was monitored for four days and was discharged with no complaints. “The baby is normal now,” he said.
