Groundbreaking! Doctors perform critical brain surgery on baby inside womb

A breakthrough surgery was conducted by a group of American surgeons on a baby while it was still in the womb to address a rare blood artery abnormalityinside the brain.

At Brigham and Women's Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital, an operation was performed to treat the "Venus of Galen malformation," a rare brain disorder, reported CNN.

The disease is caused when the blood vessel that transports blood from the brain to the heart does not mature properly.The abnormality causes an excessive volume of blood to flow through the veins and heart, stressing them and perhaps causing a chain reaction of health issues.

"Tremendous brain injuries and immediate heart failure after birth are the two big challenges," DrDarren Orbach, a radiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and expert in treating VOGM, toldCNN.

He described the condition in detail, stating that in most cases, newborns are treated using a catheter to insert small coils to reduce blood flow. The treatment, nevertheless, often takes place too late.

"Despite advancements in care, "50 to 60 per cent of all babies with this condition will get very sick immediately. And for those, it looks like there's about a 40 per cent mortality rate. About half of infants that survive experience severe neurological and cognitive issues," Orbach said.

When doctors discovered Baby Denver's rare blood vessel abnormality in the brain during a routine ultrasound, she was still developing normally inside her mother's womb, reports CBS News. Heart failure or brain injury are common in these babies, and they frequently don't survive. Denver's heart was compromisedand the abnormality had grown to a potentially dangerous size.

As a result, at 34 weeks of pregnancy, a team from Boston Children's and the Brigham was able to treather malformation while she was still inside the womb. They did this with the aid of ultrasound guidance, an amniocentesis-style needle, and tiny coils that were inserted right into the abnormal blood vessels to reduce blood flow.

What is aVein of Galen malformation?

Vein of Galen malformation(VOGM) is a kind of uncommon blood vessel abnormality that can occur inside the brain, according to Boston Children's Hospital. In VOGM, abnormally shaped arteries in the brain connect with veins directly rather than through capillaries. A rush of blood at high pressure enters the veins as a result. Multiple issues may result from this increased pressure in the veins.

(With inputs from agencies)

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