Doctors at Zurich University Children’s Hospital have performed surgery on fetuses still inside their mothers’ wombs.

Doctors at Zurich University Children’s Hospital have performed surgery on fetuses still inside their mothers’ wombs. The operations – the first of their kind outside the US – were conducted on unborn children with spina bifida. The condition can lead to paralysis of the lower limbs and sometimes to mental disability. Many times foetuses with the condition are aborted. The two successful prenatal surgeries were conducted late 2010 and halfway through this year, Martin Meuli, director of surgery said.

A hospital statement described the procedure as a major step for prenatal surgery in Europe. It is very challenging for the surgeons: two distinct patients, the mother and the fetus, have to be anaesthetised, monitored and operated on at the same time. ~ Swissinfo.ch, Jul 28

Swiss hospital pioneers prenatal surgery
Jared Yee
prenatal surgery
spina bifida
US

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