No brainer for French civil servant

[Posted: Wed 25/07/2007 by Niall Hunter, Editor www.irishhealth.com]

A man who has been described as having almost no brain has been able to live a normal life.

Doctors in France have reported that a man whose skull was mostly occupied by a huge fluid-filled chamber was able to function perfectly well as a civil servant despite having more than a thin sheet of actual brain tissue.

The 44-year-old man's condition was revealed when he went to hospital suffering from mild weakness in his left leg. 

Doctors were amazed when an MRI scan on the man showed how little brain tissue he had, and that his brain was virtually absent.

The man had massive  enlargement of his lateral ventricles, which are usually tiny chambers that hold the cerebrospinal fluid that cushions the brain. 

Tests revealed the man's IQ to be 75, below average  but which caused him no impediment to leading a normal life.