open spina bifida Spina bifida: new techniques of fetal treatment Spina bifida in the fetus

Spina bifida: new techniques of fetal treatment
Spina bifida in the fetus


 
The Vall d'Hebron Hospital has managed to successfully operate spina bifida in nine fetuses using two new techniques. With them, premature births and subsequent sequelae in the baby have been reduced.

The combination of two new techniques has managed to reduce the effects of the malformation suffered by babies with spina bifida. This new technique consists of an intervention by endoscopic, less invasive, and the placement of a patch that sticks tissue and prevents, thus, the spinal cord from coming into contact with the amniotic fluid. With this intervention, the deterioration of the nerves and hydrocephalus (accumulation of fluid in the brain), among other anomalies in the fetus, are avoided.

Until now, this same intervention was practiced, but as if it were a caesarean: the mother's uterus had to be opened at mid-gestation and the fetus had access to surgically correct the defect.

There are only two centers in the world that are currently practicing this intervention endoscopically, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the Vall d'Hebrón in Barcelona. However, only in the Spanish hospital center is the patch and glue patch used, which attaches the defect of the marrow to the fetus. This patch is then reabsorbed by the skin of the same baby.

Spina bifida is the second cause of disability in childhood today

It is one of the most complex congenital malformations that exist. It affects the closure of the spine, the spinal cord and all the nerves that, with direct contact with the amniotic fluid during pregnancy, suffer a significant deterioration. In our country, this pathology affects 1 in every 1,000 births.

Therefore, pediatricians insist on the importance of performing the appropriate tests and prenatal treatment to detect and try to correct, as far as possible, the malformation. The diagnosis is made through an ultrasound, that of week 20.

Despite this progress, pediatricians warn that prenatal treatment improves the prognosis in many cases but does not yet achieve a cure of 100% of the pathology.