Boy underwent surgery in the womb to reduce the effects of spina bifida

February 11, 2011.- Daniel Meyer, 13, underwent surgery even before he was born to lessen the effects of spina bifida.

Daniel was in the womb when doctors made the intervention to reduce the effects of this disease.

According to experts, “this type of surgery reduces the neurological complications of babies and promotes their better development.”

In 1997, doctors at Vanderbilt University conducted an operation that “was intended to repair a defect of the spine.”

The babies, during surgery, remained in the womb, and now, thirteen years later, Daniel sees life differently because of an operation that changed his way of facing the world.

According to a study from the University of California, San Francisco, “babies who undergo surgery for spina bifida when they are still in the uterus, develop better and suffer less neurological complications than babies who undergo this surgery after birth.”

This study is the first to evaluate systematically the best treatment for myelomeningocele, the most severe form of spina bifida, in which the bones of the spine do not form completely.

The study shows that prenatal surgery greatly reduces the need to divert fluid from the brain, improves mental and motor function and increases the likelihood that a child might one day walk without help.