A baby born without nose which is an extremely rare condition. Unfortunately, he passed away after spending 2 years only.
Eli Thompson, a handsome young boy, was born in 2015 without a nose. It is an extremely rare condition called arhinia. If explained without medical jargon, it means absences of the nose, nasal passage, and sinuses.
Do you know?
To date, only 40-41 children are born with such a condition. His condition, which is also called congenital arrhinia affects 1 in 197 million births.
Did something happen during the pregnancy which led to this condition?
Eli’s mother had an uneventful pregnancy. While recalling the birth, she said:
“And I stood there for a second, and I said something is wrong with him. My doctor said no, he’s perfectly fine. And I said no, he doesn’t have a nose.”
Since he did not have a nasal passage, the doctors established his airway by passing a tube from the neck directly into his windpipe, which is also called a tracheotomy.
Eli used sign language to communicate.
He became the headlines of my media channels. They called him “miracle baby” because he survived.
His mother said that they did not want him to undergo any facial surgeries till puberty when he was expected to have facial reconstructive surgery.
Unfortunately, shortly after his second birthday, the little boy passed away.
“He was in the public eye a lot. We appreciate the love and support that we’ve gotten from around the world. It’s meant a lot for the family. We just ask for everyone’s prayers at this time.”
Another child with the same condition was born in Ireland. Her name was Tessa. She met Eli in 2015 and was totally in love with Eli. Her mother expressed that introducing Tessa to Eli was a dream come true as their families could connect like none others.
With genetic testing, the doctors had diagnosed Tessa with BAM Syndrome. BAM stands for Bosma, arhinia, and microphthalmia.
Another boy was born without a nose in Iraq. He also had microcephaly which, in other words, means that due to insufficient development of the brain, the size of the head did not increase. The doctors suspected that his condition was may be secondary to a genetic abnormality, alcohol abuse during pregnancy, or exposure to any toxin/virus during pregnancy.
However, his family refused tracheotomy.
All these cases from different parts of the world are extremely rare. Such cases are a challenge for paediatricians and surgeons too. The absence of a nose or congenital arrhinia is a potentially life-threatening condition that requires neonatal resuscitation by highly skilled professionals at the time of delivery.
It is imperative to counsel the parents and discuss the neonatal outcome.
Source: CNN: Baby born without nose