New Delhi [India], Aug 16 : A Delhi man who was born with a rare bladder-related disease called 'Exstrophy Bladder' will undergo surgery to reconstruct his genital here.
Sushil Rastogi, who runs a small garment business in the city, has been suffering from an Exstrophy Bladder, a rare congenital abnormality that occurs when the skin over the lower abdominal wall does not form properly and the bladder remains open and exposed on the outside of the abdomen for the past 52 years. Due to this, he did not have a passage to pass the urine.
By the time Rastogi consulted a team of medical experts from Safdarjung Hospital here, he had already developed a rare kind of cancer.
According to medical experts, only 19 cases of Exstrophy Bladder were reported worldwide so far and in most of the cases, patients were given treatment at a younger age.
Dr Anup Kumar, professor of urology and kidney transplant at Safdarjung Hospital told : "Cases of Exstrophy Bladder are very uncommon. Rastogi was born with exposed bladder and slit genitals. And for the past 52 years, he was living his life in hesitation and ignorance as he didn't consult any doctor."
"In his case, we had two challenges while doing the surgery. First, he had a rare type of cancer. Usually, patients develop adenocarcinoma, but in his case, he developed Squamous Cell Carcinoma. It occurs only in 2 per cent of patients. Second, to reconstruct his penis which was slit open," he added.
The doctor further said: "We removed the whole bladder that developed cancer. Then we called upon plastic surgery team to create a flap on the exposed area. After the surgery, he was under observation for two months. We have also inserted a type inside the bladder so that he can urinate."
"In the second stage, we are going to construct his penis. This is known as episgias repair. As his urine passage will be open, we will try it get into the shape of the penis," added Kumar.
Asserting that awareness should be created among the people, Kumar added that Exstrophy Bladder is a congenital problem which can be treated at a super-speciality government hospital for free of cost.
Meanwhile, Rastogi, who hails from Krishna Nagar, told : "I wasn't unaware that such kind of medical conditions can be treated in India. Secondly, I was hesitant to consult any doctors when I got to know that I have cancer. I lost all my hopes for survival."
"It's been three months now since I have undergone my surgery. I will be undergoing the second phase of the surgery soon," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )