A team of surgeons at the Government Children’s Hospital in Faisalabad successfully operated on a 10-day-old girl on Wednesday to remove extra brain tissue coming out of an opening in the skull.

“We are happy. Thanks to God and doctors,” the infant’s mother said.

People previously travelled to Lahore for major procedures due to a lack of medical facilities.

Bibi Rahal was diagnosed with a rare congenital condition called encephalocele, where two heads are conjoined. Hospital officials reported that she had two fully developed brains.

“The child had a very huge occipital and encephalocele,” pediatric neurosurgeon Dr Faisal Feroze Rana, who led the operation, said. “We repaired it and saved the cerebellum of the child.”

When asked, he said that the size of encephalocele was almost four times the head’s size.

Encephalocele is a rare type of neural tube defect that affects the brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The neural tube forms the early brain and spine. The defect can happen when the neural tube does not close completely during early pregnancy.

“With encephalocele, a baby is born with a sac-like protrusion of brain tissue coming out of an opening in the skull. The opening can be anywhere along the center of the skull, from the nose to the back of the neck,” the United States public health agency says on its website.

“This surgery showcases the exceptional skill and dedication of our medical team,” Dr Rana said, “We are delighted to provide this young girl with the opportunity for a healthy life.”

A research paper at the United States National Library of Medicine says that the diagnosis is mostly based on the use of neuroimaging techniques. “Operation is the best option for treatment and the proper time is between birth and four months.”

This achievement is reminiscent of the inspiring story of conjoined twins Mirha and Minal, 11-month-old girls from Pakistan, who were successfully separated by a team of 60 medical professionals in Ankara, Turkey.

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Born with their heads fused, the twins’ family sought treatment abroad after finding no suitable options in Pakistan. Their plea was addressed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who assured pediatric neurosurgeon Owase Jeelani that the twins would receive care in Turkey.

Under Dr Jeelani’s leadership, alongside Turkish doctors Dr Harun Demirci and Dr Hasan Murat Ergani, the surgical team performed a complex two-stage operation that lasted 14 hours.