Heavy setback Baummann is back in hospital and needs surgery

Rare genetic disease: "Baummann" needs more surgery

A Bangladeshi man suffering from an extremely rare genetic disorder known as "Baummann Syndrome" is back in hospital and needs to be re-operated after more than 25 operations.

Growths that resemble tree branches

Abul Bajandar, a 28-year-old father from a small town in southern Bangladesh, made headlines three years ago when he underwent a series of complex operations to remove tree-like growth on his hands and feet. Bajandar has been living with the disease Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (or Lewandowsky-Lutz dysplasia or Lutz-Lewandowsky epidermodysplasia verruciformis) for more than two decades, which leads to extreme warts on the entire body. Now the man has to undergo surgery again.

The Bangladeshi Abul Bajandar, known as "Baummann," has to be reoperated after more than 25 operations because his extreme growths have returned. (Picture: Herrndorff / fotolia.com)

Extremely rare disease

The extremely rare skin disease Epidermodysplasia verruciformis, in which the patient suffers, is caused by a defect in the immune system.

The disease is associated with increased susceptibility to human papillomavirus (HPV) and an increased risk of developing skin cancer.

According to health experts, it only affects a handful of people worldwide.

Bajandar was after many operations as supposedly "cured". But the hopes have not been fulfilled. The extreme growths returned.

Patient discontinued treatment

According to a CNN news channel, doctors said Bajandar has had more than 25 operations since 2016.

In May, he did not let himself be treated anymore.

"It's a complicated case, and we made progress, but he went home. I asked him many times to come back, but he did not, "Dr. Samanta Lal Sen from the Plastic Surgery Unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

"He came to the hospital with his mother on Sunday. He should have come here six months ago. He was too late."

Five to six more operations needed

According to the information, the condition of Bajandar has worsened in the meantime, the lesions on the hands were again about 2.5 inches long. According to the doctors, the warts have also spread to the feet and other body parts.

Sens Team is currently working on a plan for the future treatment of Bajandar and said it will need five to six more operations.

The doctor said that the patient first noticed the lesions when he was ten years old.

Over time, they grew more and more and covered his hands completely. Because of this, he could no longer carry out his job as a rickshaw driver and could no longer earn his living.

When the doctors released him from a total of five kilos of superfluous tissue, he became a "tree man" on the subject of international news.

Treatment had helped the patient

Before the surgery, Bajandra could not eat alone, drink, brush her teeth, or take a shower.

"I want to live like a normal person. I just want to hold my daughter right and hug her, "he told CNN.

In 2017, the operations had put him in "very good shape" so that he could eat and write with his own hands, Sen said in a previous report to the TV station. Now, however, further treatment is required.

The government bore the cost of his treatment in 2016, and according to Sen, this may well be the case with the new operations. (Ad)