Hailing from Ballari district, baby Huligemma was born with a birth defect in her face structure, Tessier facial cleft, involving upper half of the face, right eye, upper lip and palate. She required complex craniofacial reconstructive surgical procedures to restore her facial appearance and good speech. With a poor economic background, the family was unable to bear the cost of the treatment.
Thanks to crowdfunding through two non-profit partners - Impact Guru Foundation and Impact Guru Inc.,the baby has undergone three complex surgeries at Aster CMI hospital in Bengaluru and is now leading a normal life.
Tessier facial cleft is a collection of related conditions that cause clefts or defects in the soft tissues and bones of the face that are more severe or follow different patterns than the common form of cleft lip and palate. Usually, babies born with this condition require corrective surgeries for proper growth, development and to look healthy.
A team of doctors at the hospital comprising Chetan Ginigeri, Lead Consultant - Paediatrics and Paediatric Intensive Care, Sathish M S Vasishta, Consultant - Craniomaxillofacial Surgery and V Arun and Gaurang J Kothari, Consultants – Anaesthesia and Critical Care, among other surgeons conducted the corrective surgeries.
Speaking about baby Huligemma’s case, Dr Ginigeri said she had a face with the cleft extending into the palate, lip, right side of the nose all the way up to the right side of the eye.
“She required a complex reconstructive procedure to reconstruct her facial deformities and give her a very good functional and cosmetic outcome in terms of bridging the nasal cleft. We were able to perform a reconstructive surgery by clearing her disfigurement. Now she is recovering fast, able to feed well without spilling the food and milk from the nose, speak and is undergoing speech rehabilitation. She will gain weight and she will develop normally,” he said.
Dr. Vasishta said the baby requires one more procedure for final palate correction.
