World-first surgery for baby’s rare skull condition
BBC News
A "happy and cheeky" baby boy with a rare skull condition is doing well a year after becoming the first in the world to be given a new type of treatment.
One-year-old Rory Potter, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, was diagnosed with severe sagittal craniosynostosis, a condition where the skull fuses before birth. He underwent surgery in September to have "super elastic" springs inserted, which gradually reshaped his skull before being removed.
His mother Jo Potter said: "You wouldn’t know what he’s been through."
The 36-year-old described him as "happy, cheeky and full of energy."
"He’s just like every little boy and hitting milestones and he will have a great story to tell when he’s older." She added that she and her husband Harry "cannot thank the team enough for the care, compassion and reassurance".
Treatment usually involves skull reshaping surgery, which takes place within the first months of life. Now experts have developed new "super elastic" springs using a special metal called nitinol.
Each spring is custom-designed to the patient and their "super elastic properties" allow them to adapt more naturally to a child’s growing skull. This means children can avoid longer and more invasive operations, and it should see a reduction in blood transfusion rates, experts say.
After Rory was referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), medics thought he may benefit from the new nitinol springs… because his case was severe.
Professor Owase Jeelani, consultant neurosurgeon at GOSH, who led the surgery, said: "These new nitinol springs give us much greater flexibility and, in some cases, can prevent the need for further surgery."
