A North West baby boy who underwent surgery in August to repair a rare brain defect will have to again have surgery to have his skull repaired. This is according to the Head of Neurosurgery, Tharun Krushna at Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp, who operated on Goitsemodimo Smith nearly two months ago. Krushna says Goitsemodimo was born in May, with a small head and part of the brain protruding. This defect is known as Encephalocele, a rare deformity that Krushna says affects 1 in 30 000 African and Asian children.
"The part of the skull that was missing is still like that and the child is still growing. We will help to take the baby back to the operation theatre for another round of surgery later on. This time it will be to repair the skull defect" says Krushna
The deformity can be detected early, while the baby is still developing inside the mother's womb.
