A baby in Wales has been nicknamed ‘Pinocchio’ because he was born with a malformed nose due to ‘encephalocele’. But what is this anomaly? Explanations.
- Encephalocele can cause seizures, impaired cognition, intellectual and developmental deficit.
- In the United States, approximately one in 10,500 babies is born with this anomaly.
- The exact cause of encephaloceles is unknown, but it is highly likely that the disorder results from a combination of several factors.
During an ultrasound, Amy Poole understood that she was going to give birth to a child like no other. During her 20th week of pregnancy, doctors suggested that her son had an abnormality, as they observed an abnormal soft tissue mass forming on the baby’s face.
“A huge golf ball sized bump on his nose”
In February 2014, the Welshwoman gave birth to a baby boy named Ollie Trezise. “When they gave Ollie to me to hold, I was so surprised I almost couldn’t speak. He was so small, but there was a huge golf ball sized bump on his nose. At first, I didn’t know how I was going to get out of it. But I knew I would love him, no matter what he looked like,” told, at DailyMailAmy Poole.
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Encephalocele is a rare birth defect
After the infant was born, practitioners performed an MRI. The examination confirmed that he suffered from an encephalocele. It is a rare birth defect. This anomaly is “a protrusion of nerve tissue and meninges through an opening in the skull”, according to MSD Manual. Clearly, it is the consequence of an incomplete closure of the cranial box. The part of the brain protruding from the skull is usually covered with skin or a thin membrane, so the abnormality looks like a small sac. In Ollie Trezise’s case, his brain grew in his nose.
An operation was needed for the baby born with Pinocchio’s nose
For the first nine months of his life, the little boy grew up with his “Pinocchio nose”. But he was then operated on because he felt difficulty breathing and was more at risk of contracting a serious infection, even meningitis, in the event of a fall on his nose.
The surgical intervention undergone by the young patient consisted of replacing the brain in his skull and reconstructing his nasal orifice. “Ollie had a huge zigzag scar on his head. He must have been in a lot of pain, but he kept smiling and laughing,” remembers Amy Poole. After the operation, the little boy often returned to the hospital to make sure everything was fine.
On social networks, his mother had decided to speak openly about this anomaly, from which her son suffers, and to publish photos to prevent other children from being mocked, as Ollie could be. “I don’t want other children to be confronted with the nasty comments he suffered, and I think the best method is to inform the population”, she concluded.
