Boy with ‘world’s largest head’ undergoes surgery

A young boy from India has undergone successful surgery to correct a rare condition which gave him the world’s largest head.

Mrityunjay Das, who is a mere seven months old, suffers from a condition known as hydrocephalus, which causes the head to inflate to the size of a watermelon. To relieve him of the condition, nearly four litres of fluid was extracted from his skull.

Following successful surgery, the toddler’s head has been reduced by 26cm- from 96cm to 70cm – over six weeks of treatment.

“The child was admitted with us since November 20. The head contained almost 5.5 litres of fluid inside it,” Dr Dilip Parida, superintendent of the AIIMS hospital in Bhuwaneshwar said.

“Until now we have removed 3.7 litres of fluid by external ventricular drainage. Subsequently, we have placed a stunt inside baby head which is working perfectly,” he said, adding that, “The cognitive functions of the child have improved a lot, he is stable and has responded well to the treatment.”

Parents of the toddler, Kamalesh Das and Kavita, explained how their family had been excluded by their neighbours in Ranpur due to their son’s unusual appearance.

Kamlesh, 35, who works in Kolkata revealed, “People would call our baby a ghost because of his unusual appearance. As his head reduces to a normal size, the attitude of our neighbours and villagers will change. They will stop calling him derogatory names like giant head or ghost baby.”