Infant has rare surgery to stop giggling fits
Associated Press
Aug. 19, 2004 12:40 PM
An 8-month-old boy was recovering from surgery in Phoenix to remove a benign brain tumor that gave the child laughter-like seizures which prompted his unknowing parents to nickname him "Capt. Giggles."
Dominico "Nico" Bastolla underwent a 3½-hour operation Wednesday in the pediatric intensive care unit of the Barrow Neurological Institute of St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center.
The Pittsburgh-area boy was in serious condition Thursday, hospital spokeswoman Carmelle Malkovich said.
About 1 in 500,000 people are born with hypothalamic hamartoma, which caused Nico to suffer fits of simultaneous belly laughter, crying and fidgeting - sometimes lasting 18 hours a day, his parents, Rhonda Lunz-Ramsey, 41, and Mike Bastolla, 35, of West Homestead, Pa., told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
"I think everything went well. I think we got it all. My anxiety never stops until he's completely awake," Dr. Harold Rekate, the pediatric neurosurgeon who performed the rare procedure, told the newspaper. He said an MRI would probably be done to determine if the entire tumor was removed.
Doctors said the effects of the surgery - including possible short-term memory loss or other complications - won't be known until the boy gets older. However, tumor victims who aren't treated can develop epileptic seizures or become mentally retarded.
