Fetus undergoes surgery while in the womb

[D.B. Cooper]

Pretty interesting.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ory/Front/home

Oceané McKenzie, with fingers the length of a paper clip and a tiny mop of brown hair, has become the first baby in Canada to successfully undergo a life-saving heart intervention while still in her mother's womb.


“Sometimes taking the safe route isn't always the best route,” Ms. McKenzie said at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto yesterday, surrounded by her husband, sons Gavin, 7, and Owen, 4, as well as her newborn daughter. “This was a chance that we took.”
The experimental and risky procedure, performed by a team of doctors from the Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital, involved putting a needle through Ms. McKenzie's abdomen into the left ventricle of the baby's heart. From there, doctors manoeuvred a wire the diameter of a strand of hair so a tiny balloon catheter could open the narrowed valve leading to Oceané's aorta.

[gambit]

Science rocks

[Wheelchair]

................................ 0.o

[Roman Knight]

In the immortal words of XKCD: Science, it works es!

[CtrlAltDe1337]

Risky, but I'm glad it turned out alright. I hope they can improve things like this in the future.

[Ludicus]

Minimally invasive endoscopic fetal surgery enables intrauterine intervention with reduced risk to the mother and fetus.