Roona Begum: Giant Headed-Baby Saved by Emergency Surgery

Roona Begum: A baby suffering from a rare disorder that caused her head to swell was saved by emergency surgery.
Roona Begum: Giant Headed-Baby Saved by Emergency Surgery
Roona before her surgery, which saved her life. (Screenshot/YouTube)
Zachary Stieber
5/15/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

Roona Begum: A baby suffering from a rare disorder that caused her head to swell was saved by emergency surgery. 

“The head makes it so unusual. It’s a huge size, ” said Sandeep Vaishya, head of neurosurgery at Fortis hospital in Delhi, where the operation happened. Roona Begum, the child, had a head that was 94 centimeters around.

“You can imagine the challenges in managing such a baby, both surgically and for the parents, also,” said Vaishya. “We had never faced such a situation before. There was no way we would know exactly how we are going to deal with it.” 

The baby’s head was so big that she couldn’t walk or hold anything, according to her parents.