KOCHI: With pressures of examinations taking its toll on youngsters, more children are becoming victims of regular headaches. But such aches should not be taken lightly and be checked at once.The doctors who saved a girl’s life last week said, “The child was brought to us since she had a headache but when she was scanned, we realised that she had just a few minutes to live.” The 16-year-old Champakkara resident was a victim of Colloid cyst — a formation in the brain which is as deadly as the tumour. When such cysts are formed, it prevents the flow of cerebral fluid in the brain and this in turn leads to brain death.Usually, victims of colloid cyst are found suffering from constant headaches that even render them unconscious. Bouts of vomiting are another symptom. But most often these headaches are not taken seriously. Dr Ajay Kumar K, one of the doctors who performed the operation at Sunrise Hospital in Kakkanad, said, “Even in this case the parents thought that the child was suffering from a common headache but realised its seriousness only when the child fainted.”But the problem with such kind of formations is that they are diagnosed mostly at the last moment, making it nearly impossible to save the person from impending death.“We discovered that the child had a 3 cm-diametre cyst in her brain. As surgeons were available, the surgery could be performed at once and it took seven hours. But not many are as lucky. If we are even a few minutes late in performing the surgery, it would lead to death. Most of such cases referred to hospitals fail mainly due to the delay in the diagnosis. It is important that people do not take frequent or heavy headaches lightly,” he said.Such kind of cases are common in youngsters aged between 10 and 25, and the cysts are usually formed from the time of birth. Hence it is better to do scanning.
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