Boston Children's Hospital (USA) performed the first operation on the brain of a fetus in the womb. A scientific article describing her procedure was published in the peer-reviewed journal Stroke.
During the operation, doctors performed manipulations with an incorrectly formed vessel in the fetal brain. The child's mother was 34 weeks pregnant. The girl was born in March of this year. After being discharged from the maternity ward, she was completely healthy.
Before surgery, the fetus had an arteriovenous malformation of the vein of Galen (VOGM). This is a rare disease of the vessels of the brain, as a result of which incorrectly formed arteries in it are directly connected to the veins.
Left untreated, this condition causes blood to rush to the heart and lungs, putting extra strain on the heart as it pumps to the rest of the body. People with VOGM also have high blood pressure leading to heart failure.
The new treatment for this disease will be tested on 19 more patients at the Boston Children's Hospital and the Center for Women's Health. Brigham before it is approved for general use. Previously, such an operation was performed immediately after the birth of a child, but in this case, it was not possible to prevent the development of heart failure with its help.
Earlier it was reported about the creation in Russia of a local analogue of the drug for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Zolgensma, which until 2023 was the most expensive drug in the world, and which was denied to Russian children due to an unspoken ban by the Ministry of Health.