Noida doctors give new lease of life to Iraqi child with 8 limbs

Karam was suffering from rare disease 'Polymelia', which is a birth defect in which the affected individual has more than the usual number of limbs

By: News Desk |
April 15, 2017 10:46 am

A team of doctors in Jaypee Hospital, Noida, have given a new life to an eight-month-old child from Iraq who was suffering from a rare disorder of extra limbs. Karam, had eight limbs, i.e. four extra limbs apart from two hands and two legs, which started developing weeks after he was born. The four extra limbs were protruding out of his stomach.

Karam was suffering from rare disease ‘Polymelia’, which is a birth defect in which the affected individual has more than the usual number of limbs.

Karam’s father, Sarmad Ahmed, who himself is a doctor and works in the emergency department of Al-Sawera hospital, while his mother Gufran is a homemaker. As the war prone Iraq suffers from medical facilities, they brought Karam to India six months ago with the hope of finding a cure for his disorder.

Ahmed said, “Years of civil war and violence have left the medical services in Iraq in a shambles. We were alarmed over Karam’s condition and started looking for treatment options in other countries and we found that there is a cure in India.”

Karam was then treated by a team of doctors from Paediatric Cardiology, Orthopaedics, Paediatrics and Aesthetics and Reconstruction departments in the hospital. Keeping the risk factor in mind, the doctors observed the baby boy and performed the critical surgery in three stages.

In the first stage of the surgery, Karam’s clubfeet were treated and the two limbs protruding out of his stomach were removed by the doctors.

In the second stage, the doctors performed “PA Band” surgery so that his left ventricle can control his entire body’s blood circulation after the treatment and he can undergo a ‘Double Switch Surgery’ in future.

In the third and final stage, the other two limbs were also removed by the doctors.

Senior Consultant, Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement Department of the hospital, Gaurav Rathore, said, “it took almost eight hours as the surgery was complicated. But we did not face any major issues. We had planned the surgery thoroughly.”

Rathore further added, “there are just five or six known cases worldwide of this condition.”