Tripura girl with swollen head in Gurgaon hospital

An 18-month old Tripura girl suffering from a rare illness that has caused her head to swell to more than double its normal size, has been brought to a Gurgaon hospital for treatment.

Doctors at the Fortis Medical Research Institute, where the girl was brought yesterday, said that anything about prognosis could be said only after diagnosing the reasons that had led to Hyderocephalus - a condition in which the head swells due to accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in brain.

The hospital offered to examine Roona Begum as her parents in a remote village in the northeastern state are too poor to pay for treatment for the condition, which has resulted in her head swelling to a circumference of 91-centimetres (36-inches).

"Hyderocephalus occurs either due to overproduction of cerebrospinal fluid or blockade of its drainage or both, which leads to its accumulation. To ascertain reasons in this case, we have to conduct a lot of investigations before arriving at any conclusion," said Dr Dilpreet Brar, Regional Director of Fortis Medical Research Institute.

"Some investigations have already been done and picture would be clear by evening. However, nothing can be said until proper diagnosis is made," Dr Brar said.