First-ever brain surgery performed on baby in mother's womb
The brain surgery took place in March.
Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital have successfully performed the first-ever brain surgery on a baby in the womb. The incredible procedure was performed at an American hospital in March, but doctors have just published their report on the operation.
Doctors diagnosed Derek and Kenyatta Coleman's baby girl with a vein of Galen malformation. VOGM is a rare blood vessel abnormality in the brain.
Luckily, a clinical trial offered their baby treatment before she was even born.
A team of doctors in the U.S. say they've made history carrying out brain surgery on a baby still in the womb.
Little Denver was diagnosed with a rare condition that could have killed her,
instead, she was born healthy. @jekearsley #9News pic.twitter.com/qUQMKfKuHp— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) May 5, 2023
Doctors performed the surgery on March 15th, just one month after discovering Kenyatta's baby's condition.
Doctors at Brigham and Women’s and Boston Children’s hospitals treated Kenyatta.
They performed a novel fetal surgery to treat her baby's condition. Many utero-surgeries have been performed before, but none for this specific condition.
The surgery was a huge success and Kenyatta went on to deliver a baby girl named Denver. She was born on March 17th, weighing 4 pounds and 1 ounce.
According to reports, baby Denver is thriving. Her heart is strong, she's eating and sleeping like a normal infant. Doctors also said she likely won't need any further care for the condition because of the trial.
Doctors also confirmed that the newborn's neurological exam was "normal".
Their findings were published in the medical journal Stroke.
