Prenatal keyhole surgery corrects rare intestinal defect in unborn baby

When routine scans revealed that her unborn child had complex gastroschisis, London teachers Maisie Savage and Josh French were warned of a potentially fatal outcome. After specialist assessment at Great Ormond Street Hospital, they were referred to a fetal surgery trial at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, overseen by Michael Belfort, who previously pioneered in-utero repair of spina bifida. The protocol required an initial Botox injection at Leuven Hospital in Belgium to relax the baby’s abdominal wall, followed by a keyhole operation at 26 weeks gestation that temporarily replaced amniotic fluid with carbon dioxide to create a working space.

Surgeons gently repositioned the intestines and sutured the abdomen, leaving the mother with a scar larger than a typical C-section. Theo was carried to term, delivered vaginally in February, and is now thriving at five months old. Researchers hope the success will enable wider use of the technique in the UK, with Paolo de Coppi slated to lead future procedures, and anticipate applying the approach to other conditions such as cardiac and lung defects.