Infant born with only one eye and no nose dies 24 hours after birth
Infant born with only one eye and no nose dies 24 hours after birth
ADVERTISEMENT
When gynaecologists at the state-run JJ Hospital entered the operation theatre on Thursday morning to perform a Caesarean section on a 34-year-old woman, they were in for the shock of their lives.
Veena Chavan, the patient gave birth to a baby boy. 
Doctors were amazed that the infant survived for 24 hours
However, where whistles and celebrations ensue, doctors and nurses in the operation theatre were dumbfounded, as when they checked, they noticed that the infant had no nose and one eye located exactly in the centre of his forehead.
Though such babies are usually still born, this child lived for one whole day before he died yesterday in the neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) at JJ hospital.
Deformity
Explaining the deformity, Dr Ashok Anand, professor of gynaecology, JJ hospital, said, "The child must have possibly suffered from cyclopia (see box).
u00a0
Chavan approached us when she was 32 weeks pregnant and the sonography showed us that the baby had Hydrocephalus, a condition where water accumulates in the brain.
u00a0
We wanted to perform an intra-uterine shunting procedure but as she had already entered her eight month we could not."
Anand added that babies suffering from such conditions hardly survived and had "decided to publish this case in the medical journal, as the baby had survived."
Grieving mother
While doctors marveled at the fact that the infant had survived a day, Veena was upset, as she couldn't even catch a glimpse of her son.
"This was my third pregnancy. I lost my previous child while I was carrying. I was told that the baby had water in the brain but never had I expected the baby to be born with one eye and no nose."
Veena, who has an eight-year-old daughter, said, "I am trying to look to the future and keep telling myself that it was destiny. I will now concentrate on my other daughter," she added, in between sobs.
Experts speak
"This is certainly a rare kind of craniofacial malformation. It is a major birth defect and according to medical literature, the baby cannot survive for long.
u00a0
If one does a chromosomonal study there is likely that genetic reason could be traced for the abnormality," said Paediatrician, Dr Santosh Karmarkar, Lilavati Hospital Dr Anita Soni, gynaecologist, Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital, said, "In my practice, I have seen a baby born with one eye and an underdeveloped nose but not a case similar to this,"
Cyclopia
Cyclopia is one of the rarest forms of birth defect where the baby is born with one eye or two eyes on the forehead of the baby. The one eye is a result of the orbital sockets not forming correctly in the womb. Some cases of cyclopia have been associated with a rare chromosomal condition called Patau Syndrome, which is associated with a person having three instead of the usual two #13 chromosomes.
Odd cases
>> In 2006, a mother in Chennai gave birth to a child suffering from Cyclopia. This baby lived for more than 11 days. Some believed the infant was the physical manifestation of a God and worshipped both the infant and the parents. Doctor's were unsure of the final root cause and also noted a chromosomal disorder as being a possible cause for the Cyclopia in this case.
>> An 18-year-old woman from Iraq gave birth to a premature baby weighing 1.5 kg. The baby did not have a nose and instead had one giant eyeball in its place and above the giant eye was a distorted nose that looked similar to a small crater.
>>In another odd case, a woman gave birth to an infant without any limbs in 2010. Doctors at Cama & Albless Hospital said that the child suffered from Phocomelia.
Did you know?
Cyclopia's incidence is 1 in 16,000 in born animals, and 1 in 250 in embryos.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
