NEW DELHI: Suffering from wrong medical treatment in his home country that left him critical at a tender age, Muhammadjon Hakimov literally got back his voice in India, courtesy doctors who carried out a life-saving surgery on him. The 1-year-old infant from Uzbekistan was diagnosed with ‘Laryngeal web formation’, a rare anomaly with incidence of 1 in 10,000 births.
It is a condition in which a child’s larynx contains a layer of web-like tissue, partially obstructing windpipe, causing frequent shortness of breath and other symptoms. Laryngeal web is often a congenital defect, which means it is present from birth. In some cases, laryngeal webs are acquired, often resulting from long-term intubation.
Hakimov was admitted to Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals earlier this month where he was admitted and successfully underwent the surgery. “At six months, the baby caught an infection which led to the development of stridor, an abnormal, high-pitched sound caused by disrupted airflow,” Dr Ameet Kishore, senior consultant, ENT, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said.
In Uzbekistan, Hakimov underwent an emergency tracheostomy, which is a surgical procedure to create an opening (a hole) in the neck upward the air-pipe to regulate smooth breathing. A year to the procedure, the Uzbek child grew with a permanent hole in his neck, which, however, disabled his speaking.
Back at the Delhi hospital, a team of doctors led by Dr Suresh Singh Naruka, consultant, ENT, surgically corrected the laryngeal web following which the airflow started through the respiratory tract, and also closed the opening of the neck which was created to help the child breathe.“Since the child was young, the surgery required a concentrated and delicate approach,” Dr Naruka said. “After the surgery, the child’s breathing pattern became normal and he even started to speak normally, whereas earlier he was not able to utter even a single word.”