Eleven-month-old Zoya Khan at 19 kg, weighed far more than any other baby her age.
Eleven-month-old Zoya Khan at 19 kg, weighed far more than any other baby her age. On Tuesday, the infant who suffered from morbid obesity became the youngest patient in the country to undergo a weight-loss surgery.
Zoya's brother, Faizan also suffered from the same
disorder. He was one-and-a-half-year-old and weighed 22kg when he died in 2009 because of respiratory problems caused by his abnormal weight.
Zoya underwent sleeve gastrectomy, a restrictive form of weight-loss surgery in which the stomach is reduced to approximately 15% of its original size.
The removal of a major part of the stomach results in the virtual elimination of ghrelin hormones that stimulate hunger. The surgery gives a feeling of instant fullness after a light meal.
Doctors at the Breach Candy hospital called it a lifesaving surgery which took five hours instead of the usual 40 minutes.
Tests over 10 months revealed that Zoya suffered from monogenic genetic disorder which occurred due to a single defective gene. Such disorders are hereditary and passed on from one generation to another.
Doctors said Khan's mother Tajkhatul (23), married her uncle's son Yusuf (25), and that was the reason for the infant's congenital deformity.
Zoya weighed 3kg at birth. Her weight shot upto 7kg in two months. She was a healthy baby and would eat three to four times a day, apart from being breast-fed.
But her parents did not want to lose another child and decided to go to a doctor. They had got endocrine tests done at Nair hospital and even sent reports to Cambridge University for a second opinion. However, when nothing worked out, the family doctor asked the Khans to approach Dr Borude.
"Considering what happened to my son, I did not want to take any risk. When I saw no hope despite so many tests, the doctors at Nair hospital asked me to consult Dr Borude," said Tajkhatul. "Dr Borude told us about risks involved in the surgery. But we decided to go ahead," she added.
"I have been performing weight-loss surgeries for the past 12 years. My youngest patient was 14, but Zoya's case was different. During the surgery, I saw that she had a stomach almost equal to that of an adult," said Dr Sanjay Borude, obesity surgeon at Breach Candy hospital.
"We did many special tests, as Zoya's case was different. Ghrelin is an appetite stimulant and is mainly produced in the upper stomach. During the surgery, we eliminate this part. It grows again within two years, but not the same as before," said Dr Borude.
The doctors did not charge anything for the surgery considering the family's financial condition. Yusuf, a resident of Nirmal Nagar in Bandra, earns around Rs100 every day by selling toys.
Despite its success, other doctors expressed apprehensions about performing such a surgery on an infant.
"We don't know the long-term consequences of a weight-loss surgery on an 11-month-old child. Metabolic complications may occur in the future," said Dr Roy Patankar, senior surgeon,
of Joy Hospital. But that is least of the Khans' worry at the present, Zoya's surgery has made her family members smile again.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}