Hospital postpones surgery on baby with rare brain condition

Baby Brian Gitau, who was born with a rare brain condition known as anencephaly. Consolata Mission Hospital has launched a funds drive to help raise Sh2 million for his treatment. [Photo: Job Weru/Standard]

A scheduled surgical operation for a baby who was born with a condition which causes the brain to be outside the skull has been postponed.

Baby Brian Gitau was supposed to undergo cleft lip surgery on Friday last week but medics at Consolata Mission Hospital in Nyeri moved the operation to this week to allow the boy to stabilise.

Baby Brian is also expected to undergo another major surgery that will involve containing the brain back in the skull.

The hospital’s Chief Executive Officer Bernard Mureithi said Gitau was placed on platelets and other supplements that will help him stabilise ahead of the cleft lip operation that will be conducted by doctors Emily Nyamu and Lucy Ng’ethe from Nyeri County Referral Hospital.

Brian suffers from anencephaly, a serious birth defect that sees a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull.

Internet sources indicate that it is a type of neural tube defect. These are birth defects that happen during the first month of pregnancy.

As the neural tube forms and closes, it helps form the baby’s brain and skull (upper part of the neural tube), spinal cord and back bones (lower part of the neural tube).

Anencephaly happens if the upper part of the neural tube does not close all the way. This often results in the baby being born without the front part of the brain (forebrain) and the thinking and co-ordinating part of the brain (cerebrum). The remaining parts of the brain are often not covered by bone or skin.

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that almost all babies born with anencephaly die shortly after birth. But Baby Brian has proved the statistics wrong by surviving for 16 months.

“He is a miracle baby and our hope is that we will be able to raise the Sh2 million that is needed to ensure he survives,” said Mureithi.

M-pesa number

Mureithi and the hospital’s Director Father Boniface Mwangi said following an article carried by The Standard last week highlighting the boy’s plight, well wishers have started contributing towards the cause.

“We opened an M-Pesa paybill number 583234 and are also requesting well wishers to also deposit in our account number; Equity Bank Nyeri branch: 0110164389607. Since the fundraiser was started, we have received a total of Sh318,013 and are appealing to well wishers to continue helping,” Father Mwangi said.

Since his admission, Brian has accumulated a hospital bill of Sh713,000.

His mother reportedly went missing immediately after he was transferred to the hospital from Kinunga Health Centre in Tetu, where she had given birth.

But Father Mwangi said the hospital traced her last week and she signed hospital documents that will give a go-ahead to the two major surgeries.

Makena Kinoti, a nurse at the hospital who is among a team that takes care of Brian, termed the boy as their child.

“We do everything that a child needs. Obviously, he needs special treatment including feeding him with tubes. We really try to avoid any infection because the baby is delicate,” she said. Ms Kinoti said the staff at the hospital were optimistic that well wishers would raise enough money to allow for surgery.