Baby saved from deformity in improper position of major organs
A newborn girl with rare deformities resulting in improper position of major organs like the heart, stomach and liver has been saved at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the hospital announced on Friday.
The girl is a precious baby for her parents in their 40s, and the mother is finally pregnant after visiting various hospitals and receiving in vitro fertilization.
However, a prenatal check on the 16th week of pregnancy found the fetus had congenital omphalocele, which meant the abdominal wall wasn't closed, resulting in some organs staying outside the body.
Such children have a risk of contracting other diseases like congenital heart disease and digestive system deformity, suffering a high mortality rate.
However, the parents didn't want to give up and went to Dr Shen Chun of the Children's Hospital of Fudan University.
Doctors from the Children's Hospital of Fudan University in perform surgery to treat a baby girl with a rare deformity.
After learning about the family's situation, doctors supported the parent's plan and worked out a detailed plan for the first-time baby transfer upon her delivery at the maternity hospital.
After the girl was born on August 1, she was transported to the children's hospital immediately.
But follow-up checkups found the baby's chest was hollow and her heart pressed beside it. The stomach had entered the chest, which meant she also suffered diaphragmatocle (a part of muscular membranous partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities was missing). So the stomach was moving from the belly to the chest.
It is a very rare case suffering both deformities, with a survival rate of less than 50 percent.
Doctors made a treatment plan by putting the stomach back into the belly and repairing the separation between the abdominal and thoracic cavities in a first surgery, and then a second surgery to put all organs outside the belly back after she grows bigger.
However, an unexpected condition occurred, with the stomach not in the chest when the doctors startedsurgery.
Doctors had to change the plan, and began to repair the separation from the belly. Finally, they found there was also a deformity in the heart, resulting in the stomach moving in the heart.
Doctors finally confirmed that the girl has Cantrell Syndrome, a complex body wall defect, involving the abdominal wall, sternum, diaphragm, pericardium and heart.
Experts repaired all the wall defects and put organs back to their proper positions. The girl was saved in one surgery.
