Baby Boy Born with ‘Craniosynostosis’ Undergoes Major Surgery: Did This Fix the Rare Skull Defect That Could Have Left Him Blind?

An online media news outlet recently reported about a baby boy born with a rare skull disorder that could have possibly left him blind.

According to a Mail Online report, 18-month-old Teddy Jones from North Yorkshire has now gone through a major operation to fix his condition. The boy was born with craniosynostosis when the bones in his skull joined together more than usual for kids his age. His condition can mean there is not adequate room for brain growth.

The child's brain, if left untreated, could have grown too big for his skull, which could have caused blindness, delays in his development, and seizures.

A 'New Forehead' Developed for the Child

In October, Teddy, turning two, went through hours-long surgery at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool last week.

Surgeons cut open his head and removed the portion of his skull which had developed way too early. Then, the medics remodeled the bones and built a new forehead for Teddy, giving his growing brain ample space. Beki, his mom, said she dropped the child off for the major surgery at around 9 am and only got him back at 6:30 pm, roughly 10 hours later.

Describing the procedure, the child's mother said the doctors cut her child's head from ear to ear across the top, took out part of his skull, and remodeled it, then put it back.

Near Blindness

It took the surgeons so long as it was not "one forehead fits all," explained Beki, adding, "It is a bespoke thing." They have made it to fit the boy's face as it didn't previously.

Teddy's mom reported he was surprisingly spritely after the surgery despite the ordeal. When he returned, the child was groggy from all the medications given him, although he was cracking.

Beki said no one would think her child had been through what he went through. She added that her son's eyes swelled up after a few days, slightly limiting his vision.

Commenting on the child's post-surgery experience, she said that a couple of days after the operation, his eyes "swelled up and he could not open them." Teddy's eyes, she continued, "were really clamped shut."

'Craniosynostosis'

With that post-surgery experience, his mother shared that the boy felt really frustrated as he could not run around. Now, said Beki, her child will have adequate space for his brain to grow into. What the doctors can do, she continued, is amazing. Typically, the bones in the skills of babies have tiny gaps between them to enable the skull to make space for the brain as it grows bigger.

However, among children suffering from craniosynostosis, which is detailed in a Mayo Clinic report, one or more of these gaps are fusing earlier than they should, limiting the growth and development of the skull. The causes of this condition remain unknown. Essentially, a congenital disability does not constantly need treatment. Sometimes, the extraordinary shape of the skull can turn less noticeable over time.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, an estimated "one in every 2,500 babies is born with craniosynostosis in the United States."

Surgery is not always necessary to fix the condition. Generally, too, an operation is only considered if it will lead to problems for babies as they develop and grow.

Related information about rare brain conditions in a child is shown on Inside Edition's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Rare Occurrences in Science Times.