A 10-year-old Mongolian girl named Enkhmend, who suffered from a malignant germ cell tumor of the brain and was unable to be treated in her country, is, after surgery at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, showing signs of recovery and can even walk on her own, the hospital said.
Chen Hsin-hong (陳信宏), a physician at the hospital’s Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery who performed the surgery, said Enkhmend was transferred to the hospital in July last year because she suffered from headaches, drowsiness and unconsciousness, and was diagnosed with a malignant germ cell tumor about the size of an egg in her brain.
When Enkhmend arrived at the hospital, she was unconscious and the team performed a 10-hour craniotomy — the surgical removal of part of the bone from the skull to expose the brain — to remove the tumor.
Chen said Enkhmend recovered and returned to Mongolia.
However, last month she was admitted to the hospital again due to meningitis. She was treated with antibiotics, had surgery to treat hydrocephalus and was discharged from the hospital last week.
Yesterday at the hospital, Enkhmend’s mother said they are grateful for what the hospital and Taiwan have done to help them.
Malignant germ cell tumors of the brain more commonly occur in children and the prevalence in Taiwan is about five times of that in Western nations, Chen said, adding that symptoms include headaches, unconsciousness, diabetes insipidus, blurred vision and weak limbs.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,