Melbourne, Australia, Jun 13, 2008 / 01:19 am
Australian doctors have successfully performed the country’s earliest in-utero surgery by saving an unborn girl’s left foot from a blood constriction.
Kylie Bowlen and her husband Terry were told that their unborn child, then 18 weeks into the pregnancy, might lose her feet after an ultrasound revealed the child, who was later named Leah, suffered from Amniotic Band Syndrome, The Age reports.
In such cases, the lining of the amniotic sac tears away and constricts the fetus’ limbs. The condition occurs in one in 15,000 live births and if left untreated can result in limb amputation or even death.
Two bands of tissue had wrapped around Leah’s legs, restricting circulation to her feet.