Breakthrough Fetal Brain Surgery Performed Successfully in Womb
Doctors have performed a first-of-its-kind brain surgery on a fetus in the womb to repair a malformed blood vessel in the baby's brain. The procedure was conducted as part of an ongoing clinical trial aimed at finding a new way to treat vein of Galen malformation (VOGM), a rare abnormality that affects the blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the brain. The new approach uses an in utero surgery designed to reduce the aggressive blood flow through the VOGM. The trial will include an estimated 20 babies, in total, and the recently treated baby, Denver Coleman, was the first to undergo the procedure.