A SIX-MONTH-OLD baby has become the youngest person in the world to receive revolutionary treatment for a rare medical condition.

Isobel Flintoft, from Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, has Pfieffer syndrome. She was born without eye sockets and her skull was joined together where other babies have softer patches.

She has problems with hearing and sight, and difficulty breathing.

The condition is caused by mismatched chromosomes. One in 100,000 children are born with it and Isobel is the first sufferer to be born in this country for two-and-a-half years.

Doctors at Scarborough Hospital referred her to Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, when she was diagnosed.

Surgeons then conducted major surgery, cutting her skull in half across the front of her head and also making incisions in the back to open it up and relieve the pressure on her brain, a procedure that may have to be repeated regularly throughout her life.

Since Christmas, Isobel has also had a tracheotomy to improve her breathing.

Neurosurgeons have fitted her face with a newly-developed Red Mask to pull out parts of the bone above and beneath her eyes to support them, making her the youngest person in the world to receive the treatment. It was specially made to fit her face by doctors in Germany.

Her mother, Kirsty, said: "Usually, America is first with plastic surgery, but in this case Isobel is the blueprint.

"Anything could happen - we just have to have regular three-month check-ups. It could be another ten years or it could be 18 months before she needs another operation, because her skull will try to revert to its original shape."

Her parents and other family members are being trained in how to look after her tracheotomy and she could be home in Kirkbymoorside next week.