Brain bleed not enough,baby Eliza must also survive hospital negligence

The trauma of fivemonthold Eliza Waghmare just doesnt seem to end Born premature with hydrocephalus a condition that causes excessive water retention in the brain termed Cerebrospinal fluid CSF Elizas treatment has not just seen several bumps and red tapism but even now with help pouring in from Good Samaritans there are hiccupsOn November 16 neurosurgeons at Juhus Dr RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital where Eliza was offered free treatment found that a foreign body 4 cmlong had been left in her brain by neurosurgeons from Parels KEM Hospital who previously operated on herAnand and Jayanti Waghmare with fivemonthold daughter Eliza who was born with hydrocephalusThe Cooper CT Scan was meant to be a routine one to check if a procedure to insert an Ommaya reservoir an intraventricular catheter system used for removal of CSF had been successful The scans however showed that the first tube inserted during Elizas admission at KEM had been left inside It seems that this was neither put on record during her discharge nor were her parents Anand and Jayanti informed about this The fear now is that this will lead to further infection and the young girl is currently too vulnerable to undergo another surgical procedureSpeaking to midday Dr Shashank Joshi consulting neurosurgeon at Cooper said My junior went through the CT scans and was surprised to see that the Ommaya tube had not been placed properly meant to be on the right side of the brain it was showing up on the left side in the scans But when he again checked he found that there was not one but two Ommaya catheters in her brain Dr Joshi adds that while the catheter placed by Cooper surgeons was in its correct position right side of brain the one on the left had been left there during the procedures Eliza underwent at KEMA CT scan done at Cooper hospital shows the floating Ommaya catheter left accidentally by KEM staff PicSayyed Sameer AbediDr Joshi added It was either not noticed or not brought to the notice of seniors at KEM as the discharge report or medical notes of KEM only states about removal of the Ommaya reservoirAnand says that on June 17 Jayanti lost her vision Initially it was partial loss and then became complete loss After this she became unconscious She was initially admitted to a private hospital in Kalina and shifted to KEM the next day On June 19 she delivered Eliza who was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit NICU from where she was discharged on August 16 On July 22 an Ommaya tube was inserted in her brain After discharge on August 16 we were called for a followup and on September 5 the treating neurosurgeon told his junior to remove the CSF through the Ommaya chamberAnand claims that post this the sutures from the surgery came undone and while the junior doctor attempted to cut the threads it wasnt done properly allowing the skin to move which led to the displacement of the Ommaya chamber The chamber was removed by KEM doctors on October 9 Its only now that we learnt that the doctors left the catheter inside he said adding I am in the process of seeking legal opinion I am keen that an inquiry be initiated by KEM in this as the concerned junior doctor has not documented the sliding of the catheter in the medical records I am not raising this issue to seek publicity or compensation but to ensure that the doctors are held accountable for negligenceDr Joshi said infection cannot be ruled out if the CSF is already infected Our concern and priority at this stage is to ensure that we continue to tap the CSF fluids from Ommaya chamber our last extraction was 120 ml The protein level continues to be over 400 mg dL Unless it drops below 100 mg dL we wont be able to do much The only treatment in hydrocephalus is inserting a shunt to drain the fluid to the abdominal cavityOn the removal of the 4 cm long catheter Dr Joshi said The child is too vulnerable for further surgical procedures at this stage We will continue to monitor the childs health and would do the needful as and when required And we must also understand that the child continues to be criticalA senior consulting neurosurgeon not wishing to be named said The concerned junior should have documented the breaking of the catheter But these catheters are inert and sterile and do not produce tissue reactions Such accidents do happens but not oftenKEM saysDr D P Muzumdar senior neurosurgeon with KEM under whose care Eliza was initially in said the concerned junior doctor might have inadvertently missed documenting that the catheter had slipped inside the brain We do not expose children to unwanted CT scans Even in Elizas case we did not do a CT post the removal of the Ommaya chamber to see if anything was left behind Moreover the infant had already gone through an MRI a few weeks prior to this he addedMuzumdar clarified The catheter remaining in the brain was not causing any blockage as we were able to extract the CSF even when we did the last tapping on the child on October 31 We have gone out of our way to support and do everything for the child and parents Instead of trusting us the parents decided to take the child to another hospital which we feel bad aboutCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates