Baby who had in-utero surgery for gastroschisis is now thriving

A baby boy from London is doing well at five months old after becoming the third preborn baby to undergo an in-utero surgery to put his intestines back inside his body, due to a condition known as gastroschisis.

Key Takeaways:

Baby Theo was diagnosed with complex gastroschisis at 20 weeks.
At 26 weeks gestation, he and his mother underwent a new surgery to put his intestines back into his body while he was still in the womb.
The surgery was a success, and Theo was born 14 weeks later at full term.
Gastroschisis was once considered fatal, but it is now considered treatable, and more than 95% of children with the condition survive. Despite this high survival rate, more than a quarter of babies diagnosed with it are aborted.

The Details:

As reported by the BBC, Maisie Savage was 26 weeks pregnant when she and her preborn baby Theo underwent keyhole surgery in a "first-of-its-kind" clinical trial to put his organs back into his abdomen.

He had been diagnosed at 20 weeks with gastroschisis, in which the belly button doesn't form properly and as a result, the intestines grow outside of the abdomen.

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Theo was diagnosed during an anatomy ultrasound and his case was considered "complex gastroschisis." Savage and her husband Josh were shocked.

"Going towards a 20-week scan, we were purely just excited to have an image of our baby," he said. "We didn't know he was going to be a 'he' at the time."

The diagnosis, he added, was "incredibly scary."

Four weeks later, doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital explained to the Savages what Theo's life would be like with multiple surgeries and time in the NICU. The couple was also told about Dr. Michael Belfort, who was leading a team of U.S. surgeons running a trial to repair complex gastroschisis in the womb. He is the same doctor behind an in-utero surgical procedure for spina bifida.

A major factor of the couple's decision was that they would have to relocate from London to Texas to participate in the trial, with a stop in Belgium, where Botox would be administered to Theo's abdominal wall to relax the muscles.

"It was a huge decision," said Maisie. But it was a trip they were willing to make to help their son.

Zoom In:

At 26 weeks, the procedure was carried out at Texas Children's Hospital. As the BBC reported:

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," Maisie said. "But, it was worth it."

"The length of that day, it felt like a week," said Josh. "The waiting and just not knowing exactly what was going on at each and every stage."

The surgery was a success, and both mom and baby recovered well. "The mother, the baby, the surgery, the time of the surgery, the fact that we had zero complications during the fetal surgery and after the fetal surgery, just remarkable," Belfort said.

Maisie added, "Everything they did just completely reversed what could have been a really horrible start to his life and he's just the best. He's a completely normal baby essentially."

Josh likewise noted how grateful they are for the doctors at Great Ormond Street and in Texas, saying, "[T]he level of care was amazing and they made a very traumatic time of our lives so much easier, and we've got this little man — we couldn't be happier."

According to research, gastroschisis used to be considered fatal, but it is now considered treatable and carries a higher than 95% survival rate. Yet, about a quarter (26.5%) of babies with the condition are aborted.

The Bottom Line:

Theo's story is spreading far and wide via social media, and will hopefully lead to more awareness of how treatable the condition is, and the new surgery that's helping babies thrive.

"We hope that we will be able to offer this to patients in a larger scale very soon," said Paolo de Coppi, a doctor at the University College London who will carry out the surgery in the United Kingdom if the trial proves to be successful.

Belfort has high hopes that it will be. "The inside of the uterus is now a new surgical space for innovation," he said. "And spina bifida and gastroschisis are just two, but I believe that we could actually do certain cardiac surgeries in utero, and I think we can also do some lung surgeries in utero."

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