Muscat girl gets her smile back after an operation in Bengaluru hospital

Bengaluru: Zahida Adham, a two-year-old child from Muscat, has been cured of her condition, isolated cleft palate, after an eight-month-long treatment at Rainbow Children’s Hospital in the city.

Adham who started her treatment in March this year completed it on Monday. The girl, who had a cut in her palate and had difficulty in consuming food, is now hale and hearty.

The condition was due to an opening between her nose and mouth that made it almost impossible for her to eat. When fed, the food would slip out through her nose. According to Dr Satish Vasistha, who heads the Cleft Clinic at the hospital, this condition would go on to affect her speech if not treated at the right time.

“In layman terms, she had a hole in the roof of her mouth, which made it very difficult for her to eat. These cases need to be treated within 13 to 18 months otherwise they can hinder their speech development.”

Lip and palate clefting, similar to Zahida’s, is a result of a number of causes, but the biggest reason is a folic acid deficiency in pregnant women, he said. Other reasons include consumption of alcohol, smoking and, in many cases, genetic abnormalities.