香港六合彩中特网

It is a collaboration between 香港六合彩中特网, King's College London and our international partners, KU Leuven. WEISS is proud to be a part of this amazing project.聽

The team from 香港六合彩中特网H repaired the defect in the spine of two babies with open spina bifida, in separate operations this summer. Mums and babies are recovering well.

The operations brought together researchers from聽香港六合彩中特网聽working with NHS clinicians from聽听补苍诲听聽in partnership with聽聽in Belgium to carry out the operations in the UK for the first time.

Until now, mums could choose to have the fetal surgery abroad or have postnatal surgery after the baby is born, which is the current practice in the UK.

This specialist fetal surgery will give the baby a significantly better chance in life, as compared to postnatal surgery, as babies with spina bifida are very often incapable of walking, and may require a series of operations to drain fluid from the brain (shunt placement) later in life.

鈥淚n spina bifida, the spinal canal does not close completely in the womb, leaving the spinal cord exposed from an early stage in pregnancy. This results in changes to the brain, as well as severe permanent damage to the nerves on the lower half of the body,鈥� said lead neurosurgeon Dominic Thompson of GOSH.

鈥淥perating in the womb involves opening the uterus, exposing the spina bifida without delivering the baby, closing the defect and then repairing the uterus to leave the baby safely inside鈥�, said lead fetal surgeon Jan Deprest of 香港六合彩中特网H and Leuven.

鈥淐losure of spina bifida in the womb using this method is an alternative to postnatal surgery, and has been shown to improve short and medium-term outcomes. While neither intervention is fully curative, in fetal surgery, the defect is closed earlier, which prevents damage to the spinal cord in the last third of pregnancy. We are also researching the minimal access (fetoscopic) technique through the GIFT-Surg Project framework and, if we can show it to have equal benefit, we will be offering this option to patients.鈥�

The 香港六合彩中特网H and GOSH team has been training with Professor Deprest and his team in Belgium, where more than 40 operations, some on English patients from 香港六合彩中特网H, have been conducted since 2012. They have also benefited from close links with the聽聽where the team led by N Scott Adzick pioneered this operation and has conducted more than 320 similar operations since 2011.

The 30-strong team involved in the first two operations was coordinated by fetal medicine consultant Anna David of聽香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 Institute for Women鈥檚 Health聽and 香港六合彩中特网H. Professor David, who is also supported by the聽, said: 鈥淲e have been working for three years to bring this service to UK patients through the creation of a Centre for Prenatal Therapy at 香港六合彩中特网, 香港六合彩中特网H and GOSH.

鈥淥ur resolve to offer this service was based on the findings of a large, multicentre, randomised control trial in the US which compared prenatal closure to postnatal closure, and the observation that fetal surgery could be safely reproduced in Europe by proper training.

鈥淭he US trial authors found that prenatal closure was associated with a 50% reduction in the need for surgical shunt placement in the newborn baby and a significant improvement in motor function at 30 months of age.

鈥淭he reduction in need for shunts is particularly important,鈥� said Professor Paolo De Coppi of the聽香港六合彩中特网 Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, 鈥渁s long-term follow-up of children that have undergone prenatal closure in the womb suggests that brain function, mobility, and total independence were higher in non-shunted than shunted children aged 5.鈥� Prof De Coppi is supported by the聽.

鈥淭he Centre for Prenatal Therapy programme at 香港六合彩中特网H and GOSH has been made possible thanks to generous charitable funding totalling 拢450,000 from聽听补苍诲听,鈥� said Professor Donald Peebles, 香港六合彩中特网H clinical director for Women鈥檚 Health. 鈥淭hese vital funds have provided training for the surgical team and will fund surgery for the first 10 patients. While we currently only perform an open fetal surgery approach, we are developing the fetoscopic approach in pre-clinical models and hope this could further minimise maternal complications.鈥�

罢丑别听聽project aims to develop new fetoscopic tools and imaging techniques to support prenatal therapy, and is funded by the聽聽and the聽听(贰笔厂搁颁).

This article was originally published on the聽.