Toddler's head swollen to shocking proportions due to untreated hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus has caused Dilla Anargia Adilla to suffers cerebrospinal fluid build-up that is life-threatening. One to two babies per 1,000 are delivered with the ailment, say experts. If caught soon enough, surgery can treat the condition.

Comments (14)

BY LINDSAY GOLDWERT / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012, 1:47 PM

In a world where we have the knowledge and people who care, there has to be a way to help this family. This is shameful, the idea because a child does not have insurance, she cannot be treated. Where are doctors without borders. 

CATERS NEWS AGENCY
Dilla Anargia Adilla suffers from a rare disease which has caused her head to grow to three times the size of an average adult's.

A family is is heartbroken over their ailing daughter, who suffers from hydrocephalus, a condition that has causes her head to swell to a shocking and painful size.

Dilla Anargia Adilla, 3, of Bogor, Indonesia was born with the ailment, caused by the abnormal

build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in certain parts of the brain. This excess fluid collects in the skull
causing her head to grow at an alarming rate and from ear to ear her head now measures a
whopping 100cm. The debilitating condition has left the brave tot unable to walk or talk and
she spends her days being cared for by her dad Azwar Anas, 31 and mum Puspita, 28 at
their home in Bogor, Indonesia.

Hydrocephalus, also known as “water on the brain,” causes pressure to build up inside the skull, resulting in blurred vision, mental and physical disability.

The condition is not uncommon.

CATERS NEWS AGENCYLittle Dilla Anargia Adilla, 3, was born with hydrocephalus, a rare condition that causes her body to produce too much spinal fluid. This excess fluid collects in the skull causing her head to grow at an alarming rate.

One to two of every 1,000 babies are born with hydrocephalus, making it as common as Down’s syndrome, according to the Hydrocephalus Association.

CATERS NEWS AGENCYDilla Anargia Adilla's mother Puspita, 28, and sister Fazira comfort her at their home in Bogor, Indonesia.

Babies born with ‘water on the brain’ are likely to undergo surgery that inserts a shunt or plastic tube into the child’s brain ventricle or in a designated area outside the spinal cord. This works to divert the flow of fluid.

Many children require follow-up surgeries.

Sadly, Dilla’s family says that they cannot afford surgery for their daughter, whose condition has advanced.

Doctors say that they are worried that the girl may not survive the surgery.

CATERS NEWS AGENCY

Hydrocephalus affects 1 or 2 in 1000 babies and is treatable through a standard two-hour procedure, where a neurosurgeon inserts a thin tube called a shunt to drain the fluid.

And if she does, the family will have to cope with the staggering cost of coping with her disabilities, which could include speech and walking delays and other special needs.

Dilla’s mother Anas is crushed by her daughter’s illness.

'Seeing Dilla in so much pain is obviously tearing me apart,” she told the Mail Online. “It doesn't just affect me, it upsets everybody when we see her in pain.