Posted on 06/20/2002 1:48:38 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Texas Doctors Perform Historic Surgery In Utero
6/20/02
Forth Worth, TX -- A Fort Worth newborn with a rare tumor growing inside her neck is the first in the state to have an unusual procedure done during her birth. Baby Guadalupe made history at Cook Children's Medical Center, not only because she was the first planned delivery here, but she was also the first in the state to be operated on while still inside her mother's womb.
Baby Guadalupe had a rare teratoma or benign tumor in her neck. Her parents want to remain anonymous, so Neo-natologist Dr. James Miller and Dr. Bannie Tabor explain how a team of 24 doctors and nurses did Texas' first so called "exit" delivery procedure.
"We identified this large mass on the anterior of her neck that was pressing on her esophagus and preventing her from swallowing."
It would also prevent her from breathing outside the womb. So Dr. Miller relied on Guadalupe's mother to keep her alive while he inserted a breathing tube.
"While the baby's head and neck are exposed she is still attached to the umbilical cord, so in effect the placenta is still functioning as a respirator allowing the baby to get the oxygen it needs."
Doctors removed 8 ounces of fluid from the tumor but prior to draining it was the size of a small grapefruit. Now some extra skin and a scar is all that remains.
After nearly four weeks in neo-natal intensive care, Guadalupe is ready to go home unaware that her first breath launched new possibilites for newborns in Texas. Teratoma tumors are very rare, occurring in about one in 4 thousand births, even more rare is the type Guadalupe had on the neck and head.
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