A baby with 31 fingers and toes has
undergone the first of three surgical operations to correct his rare birth
abnormalities.
The eight-month-old boy, named Hong
Hong, has 15 fingers and 16 toes – but no thumbs on either palm.
Born to migrant worker parents from
the village of Zhongping, China, the child suffers from a severe case of
polydactyly, which causes the extra digits. While polydactyly occurs in an
estimated one in every 1,000 cases, serious cases like this are rare.
His mum also has one extra finger on
each hand, which may explain how the infant inherited the condition.
But unlike his mother, Hong Hong’s
case is much more urgent as it will affect whether or not he can walk properly
in the future.
After hearing about the boy’s case, the
No. 6 Hospital of Ningbo City, agreed to reduce the family’s medical costs –
estimated as high as £57,786 – and have since admitted the infant for the
triple-phase corrective surgery.
According to the hospital’s resident
doctor Xu Jihai, the operations will involve cutting off the boy’s extra
fingers and toes and eventually reshaping his remaining digits.
The high-risk surgeries will deal
with his bones, joints, skin, nails as well as critical veins, making them not
only challenging, but also requiring an extensive post-op recovery regime.
The first phase of the infant’s
treatment has already been completed, with medics performing surgery on his
feet, according to reports.
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