“So the inside of the uterus is a new space for surgical innovation.”
Dr Michael Belfort
An experimental surgery was performed on a foetus curing him of gastroschisis. His father Josh describes discovering that his son, Theo had gastroschisis had been a shock and incredibly scary. A team of foetal and paediatric surgeons, led by Dr Michael Belfort, had been leading a first-of-its-kind clinical trial to repair complex gastroschisis before birth. Belfort, the clinical lead on the trial, had previously pioneered a similar surgical procedure in the womb on babies with spina bifida.
As part of the trial she first had to travel to Leuven Hospital, in Belgium, where specialists needed to give Maisie a Botox injection through her womb into Theo’s abdominal wall, to relax the muscles to make the repair easier. The family then flew to Texas where the operation was performed in November last year, 26 weeks into the pregnancy. Maisie’s womb was partially exposed to position the uterus and baby, the amniotic fluid was drained and replaced with carbon dioxide (CO2) gas to expand the operating space. Using keyhole surgery, Theo’s organs were then gently pushed back inside his abdomen, which was stitched closed. Maisie was left with a scar, twice the size of a C-section incision. But unlike other women who are recovering from a C-section, she still had a baby to grow inside her for another 14 weeks.
She said Theo would often kick inside her, hitting her scar and causing her pain. “It was a hard recovery,” Maise said. “But, it was worth it.”
The operation was a complete success and Theo was carried to term and born in February by vaginal delivery in Texas.
Belfort, obstetrician and gynaecologist-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital, said he and his team are very happy with the results so far.
“The mother, the baby, the surgery, the time of the surgery, the fact that we had zero complications during the foetal surgery and after the foetal surgery, just remarkable.” If the trial is a success, Paolo de Coppi, professor of paediatric surgery at GOSH and head of stem cells and regenerative medicine at University College London, would perform the procedure in the UK.
“We hope that we will be able to offer this to patients in a larger scale very soon,” he said. Belfort is excited about the partnership and said Texas Children’s and GOSH working together will be a formidable team. And Belfort is already looking ahead to what he can do next.
He is the first baby in the UK to receive such a unique surgery of its kind. The technique is still part of the on-going clinical trials in the US and it involves 10 babies.
MORE ON DR BELFORT
A native of South Africa, Dr Belfort received his medical degree (MBBCH) from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1981. Dr Belfort has been awarded two post graduate research degrees, a Doctorate in Medicine (MD) from the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1990, and a PhD from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden in 2001.
Dr. Belfort completed two residencies in obstetrics and gynecology (one at the University of Cape Town completed in 1989 and one at BCM completed in 1993) and trained in anesthesiology in South Africa. He completed his fellowship in maternal fetal medicine at BCM in 1995.
Source and Credit;
https://youtube.com/shorts/8m0IcPdi0cc?si=tXbNLXukDgO2CkxZ
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86ngegz9qno
https://www.texaschildrens.org/find-a-provider/michael-belfort-mbbch-da-sa-md-phd
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