A baby who underwent spina bifida surgery in the womb is healthy and developing well 6 weeks after birth, according to an announcement from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC), spina bifida occurs when the neural tube – a hollow structure that begins to form around the third week of pregnancy – does not develop properly, eventually resulting in a hole in the neural tube.
Down the road, this neural tube forms the baby’s brain and spinal cord, so if spina bifida occurs, the baby may have minor to severe neurological damage in the future, and result in physical and intellectual disability.
The special surgery was performed on a British mother, Helena, who was 20 weeks pregnant when she discovered that her child in the womb had spina bifida, with significant damage to her back and half of her spine exposed. Doctors said the baby could be paralyzed and incontinent in the future, and may also need a shunt to drain the hydrocephalus.
Thankfully, in 2011, the idea of performing spina bifida surgery on babies in the womb was proposed. Clinical trials have shown that infants who undergo surgery in utero are twice as likely to walk on their own by age 2 and less likely to have neurological problems than those who undergo surgery only at birth for spina bifida.
This type of fetal surgery does carry some risks, and it can increase the risk of preterm birth to some extent. But compared to the changes to the baby’s future life, it’s worth it.
According to BBC News, the operation involved 25 clinicians from University College London Hospital as well as the University Hospital Leuven in Belgium.
They first anesthetize the mother, and the anesthetic drugs are passed to the fetus. The abdomen and uterus are then cut open to reach the fetal spine, where neurosurgeons separate the skin attached to the exposed spinal cord, place the spinal cord inside, and then suture the tissue closed.
Helena underwent the surgery at 23 weeks of pregnancy, and three months later, she gave birth to her daughter, Mila, at University College London Hospital. The baby still has some excess fluid in her brain, but so far, Mila shows signs of healthy development.
Since January 2020, the team has performed the same procedure on 32 babies, including Mila.
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