Brain Surgery was Performed on the Baby in the Womb!

While medicine continues to progress in parallel with the developing technology, another first has been achieved in the past days. At the Center for Cerebrovascular Surgery and Intervention at Boston Children’s Hospital brain surgery for a fetus inside the womb for the first time done.

Surgeons say the operation may have fatal consequences in the developing brain. ‘vascular malformation’ (vascular anomaly) fixed it. The fetus was just 34 weeks old.

Let’s detail the situation that requires surgical operation in the fetus:

In the examinations, a vessel with Galen malformation was seen in the fetus. This causes the arteries in the brain to connect directly to the veins instead of passing through the capillaries first as they should, to fatal consequences can cause.

What makes the condition deadly is actually blood pressure. While capillaries take on the task of slowing blood pressure, due to malformation flow of blood directly into the veinscan cause extremely high blood pressure.

As a result of this situation, especially after birth and postpartum brain and heart, overpressure goes under. This pressure can lead to pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, and other vital conditions.

How was the operation done?

The operation took place under the supervision of the US Food and Drug Administration. Using ultrasound, surgeons reached the operation area in the uterus and fetus. by blocking high-pressure blood vessels prevented the high pressure that would occur during childbirth.

Thanks to this operation, which was performed just a few weeks before the birth, the baby was born healthy. From the birth of the baby, the team 6 weeks later He shared that he was in good health and that there was no abnormality in the brain.

What is the significance of this operation?

All of the operations performed for Galen malformation to date, after the birth of the baby, putting the birth process at risk had to be done. However, the new operation showed that this operation can be performed while still in the womb, indicating that risks such as long-term brain damage, disability or death can be avoided beforehand.