Photo In Lviv, surgeons reduced a 1-year-old child's tongue, which was 5 times longer than normal due to Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.
The Lviv hospital “Ohmatdet” reported this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.
“Surgeons of the Center for Children's Medicine, Okhmatdet Hospital The baby's tongue, which was 5 times longer than normal, was shortened due to a rare syndrome. There are only two such children in Ukraine,” the message says.
The boy from Odessa is now 1 year and 3 months old. When the family, at 32 weeks of pregnancy, heard from the ultrasound doctor that the baby was showing his tongue, they were touched. However, during the repeated examination, the parents heard about a suspicion of a genetic syndrome that affects the development of the baby. The lion was born at 37 weeks weighing 4250 kg. From day one it had an extended tongue. It was difficult for him to even eat like a normal baby. He could only eat from a bottle, and later he could not eat solid food because it fell out of his mouth,” the hospital says.
A geneticist confirmed the boy’s rare Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. According to statistics, one such child is born on average for every 20 thousand babies. A genetic abnormality causes intensive development of various organs during pregnancy.
“Levchik had a huge tongue, enlarged internal organs and one leg was 3 cm longer than the other. Such problems should be corrected as quickly as possible, but first of all it was the tongue before it created problems for the baby with breathing and eating,” doctors noted .
The baby's mother Elena said that Odessa specialists advised to go abroad, because in Ukraine there are no surgeons with experience in helping such children.
“We accidentally ended up in Lviv with friends and found out that there would be doctors from the USA in the city. We were thinking about the option of going there, but then it turned out that the USA was coming to us, so we quickly made an appointment. This is how we learned that Lviv doctors help children with the most complex pathologies,” shared Elena.
The Center’s team of surgeons performed a partial resection of the tongue using the modern “Key hole” technique. We approached the treatment of this patient responsibly, with the strengthening of the team by American colleagues,” said Roman Ogonovsky, head of the Interregional Center for the Treatment of Children with Cleft Lips and Palates. After the operation, the tongue is almost normal size. For the first time in his life, the baby was able to hide it in his mouth.
“Levchik’s life changed a lot after the operation. My little son is relearning how to drink, eat and communicate, as all children do, because before he was forced to adapt to the conditions created by a large tongue. He has to learn all these skills again, says the baby’s mother.
The boy has further treatment and rehabilitation ahead.
As reported, at the Lviv Children’s Hospital of St. Nikolai underwent surgery on three babies born with huge tumors – teratomas.