In a first-of-its-kind procedure, physicians performed a successful in utero surgery to repair a rare and potentially deadly prenatal condition in an unborn fetus. In utero surgery has been used for other conditions, but this is the first time it has been attempted to treat 'vein of Galen malformation' — a rare blood vessel abnormality inside the brain that can cause a rush of high-pressure blood into the veins.
, when the fetus was at 34 weeks and 2 days gestational age, doctors used ultrasound imaging to guide a needle through the uterus of the mother and into a vein in the back of the fetus's head. A catheter in the needle was then used to insert tiny coils to decrease blood flow in the vein.
The tiny patient was the first in a clinical trial currently underway at Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, performed with oversight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and was delivered by induced vaginal birth two days after the procedure.that they learned of their baby's condition during a 30-week ultrasound, and that the doctor told them that"something wasn't right in terms of the baby's brain and also her heart was enlarged.
“This approach has the potential to mark a paradigm shift in managing vein of Galen malformation where we repair the malformation prior to birth and head off the heart failure before it occurs, rather than trying to reverse it after birth,” Orbach said. “This may markedly reduce the risk of long-term brain damage, disability or death among these infants.”
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