A six-year-old boy from south Bengaluru had been complaining of weakness in one side of the body for a couple of months. He got minor relief when his parents took him to a hospital. But it didn’t last. The symptoms returned and his condition worsened. At last, doctors found what was ailing the boy -he had suffered a stroke.Last month, the child underwent a rare surgery , and is back on his feet now.
The boy experienced difficulty in walking, blurred vision and weakness in the left side of the body . His MRI report revealed that the Basilar artery -which supplies oxygen to the brain -was blocked. He was taken to Narayana Health, where he underwent mechanical thrombectomy , a procedure in which a small tube is inserted in the leg artery all the way to the brain. Doctors claim he’s the first child in India on whom the surgery has been conducted; the method has been used only on adults so far.
As the child is very young, it was a huge challenge for surgeons to use the devise to retrieve the clot. This technique has been used on four kids in the US and one in the UK.
“The boy complained of giddiness and double vision.His speech was altered. We found that his Basilar artery was obstructed. He’s doing fine now,“ said Dr Vikram Huded, head, interventional neurology and stroke, Narayana Health.
SMILES BACK ON PARENTS’ FACES
The boy’s father, a business developer, said his son had been constantly complaining of giddiness in September. “We thought it was because of weakness. But it came with recurrent pain in the left arm. We got a few tests done but nothing showed up.On Diwali, he collapsed while playing with friends. We took him to a private hospital and got an MRI done. Then we shifted him to Narayana Health as he was almost comatose. We’re more than glad to see him fit again,“ he said.