A Saudi-Egyptian team of neurosurgeons at the Royal Commission Hospital in Jubail has successfully removed a sack-like protrusion from the head of an eight-day-old baby.

The protrusion of the brain was the same size as the baby’s head.

Mahmood Hassan, one of the doctors involved in the surgery, said the medical condition is called encephalocele and is caused by developmental defects in the skull.

He said the boy had an extreme variety of the condition, which was diagnosed during pregnancy.

The doctors performed the surgery after a series of tests including an ultrasound, a computerized tomography scan (CT scan) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain.

He said the baby was kept for a few days in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and later discharged.

“The boy continues to receive follow-up care at the outpatient clinic,” said Hassan.