Doctors saved the baby in the womb. (Representative image)
Doctors in the United States have performed groundbreaking brain surgery on a baby still in the womb to treat a rare vascular abnormality in the brain. CNN.
This rare brain condition is known as “Gallen’s Venus”, and the surgery was performed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital.
This condition occurs when the blood vessels that carry blood from the brain to the heart do not develop properly. With this malformation, the overwhelming amount of blood puts stress on the veins and heart, which can lead to a range of health problems, news outlets report.
Dr. Darren Orbach, a radiologist at Children’s Hospital Boston and an expert in VOGM treatment, said: CNN.
To elaborate on the complications, infants are usually treated from birth using a catheter to insert small coils to slow blood flow.
“Despite advances in care, 50 to 60 percent of babies with this condition become seriously ill quickly. And in those cases, the mortality rate appears to be about 40 percent. experience neurological and cognitive problems,” Orbach said.
according to CBS news, Baby Denver was growing normally in her mother when doctors discovered she had this rare vascular abnormality in her brain during a routine ultrasound. develop heart failure and brain damage and often do not survive. In fact, Denver’s heart was struggling and the deformity had become dangerously large.
So, at 34 weeks’ gestation, the Boston Children’s and Brigham team used ultrasound guidance, a needle similar to those used for amniocentesis, and a small coil placed directly into her to see if she was still in the uterus. I was able to repair her deformity while in It enters abnormal blood vessels and stops blood flow.
What is a Galenic Vein?
according to Boston Children’s Hospital, Vein in Galen’s malformation (VOGM) is a rare type of vascular anomaly in the brain. In VOGM, blood flow slows because the deformed arteries in the brain connect directly to veins instead of connecting to capillaries. This forces high-pressure blood into the veins. This extra pressure in the vein can cause many problems.
