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French
surgeons have successfully operated on a fetus in its mother’s womb – for the
first time in the country. They have corrected a defect which could lead to the
baby’s legs being paralyzed – a procedure available in only a dozen hospitals
worldwide.
The fetus was suffering from the
congenital disorder spina bifida, which can cause partial or total paralysis of
the legs, and the congestion of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.
Incisions
were made to the mother’s uterus and the fetus, and the baby’s spinal cord was
covered and closed by surrounding skin and tissue.
“Ten
days after the surgery, the brain anomalies [in the fetus] that were caused by
the disorder had disappeared,” Doctor Jean-Marie
Jouannic told AFP.
“It’s
incredible to be able to protect this little girl’s brain to enable future
learning,” he added.
The
procedure was conducted in July, but the hospital’s officials have just
disclosed the information after the baby girl was successfully born at full
term on November 9. Her mother is fine as well, doctors who performed the
unique procedure said, France 24 reported.
Spina
bifida means that the bones of the spine aren’t fully formed, opening the
nerves. This, in turn, may cause damage to the spine, as the baby moves inside
the womb.
It
is one of the most frequent neurological congenital defects, occurring in one
of every 1,000 pregnancies in France, and one in 1,500 in the US, according to
AFP.
The
majority of parents in France reportedly prefer to terminate the pregnancy if
the disorder is diagnosed, but still about 40 babies with the defect are born
in the country yearly.
In May, the procedure was
performed on the UK woman, but she needed to go to Belgium to have the
operation: at the time, the Leuven Teaching Hospital was one in only four
European facilities to carry out such a procedure.
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