Eight-month-old baby had a four-hour operation, but it’s thought his brain will now develop normally
A little boy who was cruelly compared to an alien because of a skull defect he was born with has been given life-changing surgery to correct the problem.
The eight-month-old tot is known as Xiao Yu and is from Jiangsu Province in East China.
He was born with a condition called craniosynostosis, which causes the bones of the skill to close before the brain is properly formed.
Xiao Yu was treated by Dr Bao Nan and a team at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, also in East China.
They used 3D-printing technology to make an exact replica of the baby’s skull, enabling them to spend a lot of time looking at it before they operated.
The surgery took place on May 21 and saw the boy’s skull cut open so his bones could be reshaped. It took four hours, with the doctor explaining using the 3D technology was invaluable.
He said: “Thanks to 3D-printing technology, we were able to make a model of the patient’s skull, which in turn allowed us to make a detailed surgical plan beforehand.
“We also measured the faces of the patient’s parents so we could design his new face with family features.”
The operation gave Xiao Yu a normal shaped head, and he was kept in hospital for 10 days afterwards so he could recuperate.
Doctors now expect his brain to develop normally.
Craniosynostosis results in a deformed skill and misshapen facial features, with six in every 10,000 babies effected.
As some bones are fused it means they can’t grow, whereas in other areas the skull is able to expand as usual – but this often means it increases too much as it overcompensates. This is what causes the unusual skull shape.
As well as impacting how the baby looks, the condition is also dangerous because it can stop the brain developing properly.
In turn, this can lead to headaches, eye issues, seizures or even death.
Normally kids are found to have the issue later in childhood, as symptoms get worse because of increased pressure in the brain.
Xiao Yu was diagnosed soon after birth though, apparently because of the unusual shape of his head.
Leave a Reply