The baby, born to parents in Pflugerville, is healthy several months after he was operated on while still in the womb.
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — A young Pflugerville family is calling it a “miracle” that their baby survived a potentially fatal lung condition, thanks to a rare medical procedure performed recently at Texas Children’s Hospital.
The baby wasn’t born yet, still being inside the womb when the procedure took place.
“We learned through a scan that our baby, Knox, had a large growth in his lung that was pressing on the heart,” his mother Kristen Woody said. “Another hospital referred us to Texas Children’s Hospital in Austin.”
Woody said that TCH placed a shunt in the baby’s chest while still in her uterus to protect his heart and reduce the growth in his lung.
This allowed the pregnancy to continue “as normal,” and extend the mother’s pregnancy as much as possible.
TCH Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Matias Bruzoni explained the procedure:
“The mom is basically in the operating room, and with a needle you go through the skin, through the uterus, through the amniotic sac and into the baby’s chest to find this mass that’s inside his chest,” Bruzoni explained. “And through that needle you move the shunt, which is catheter that’s open on both sides. One end is a big balloon inside the baby’s chest, the other end is in the amniotic fluid, which is a big cavity that has more pressure. So, [that’s] how we were able to decompress the lung, and the heart gets back to the middle where it’s supposed to live, and the pregnancy continues.”
Several weeks after the procedure when Knox was delivered by C-section, a surgical team stepped in again and removed the shunt and a part of his lung. Knox spent several weeks in the TCH neo-natal Intensive Care Unit, but eventually became well enough to go home.
“Our baby is very sweet,” Woody said. “Knox smiles a lot when you make faces at him. Healthwise, he is doing fantastic. I know I’m biased, but he’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen.”