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Rebagliati Hospital Performs First In‑Utero Spina Bifida Repair on 24‑Week Fetus

The team now aims to maintain the pregnancy to about 38 weeks to maximize the procedure’s benefits.

Overview

  • Doctors report the mother and fetus are stable and under continuous monitoring following the fetal surgery at 24 weeks’ gestation.
  • Surgeons temporarily exteriorized and opened the uterus, repaired the fetus’s open spinal defect, then closed and returned the uterus to allow the pregnancy to continue.
  • The operation was led by Dr. Igor Huerta and involved specialists in maternal–fetal medicine, pediatric neurosurgery, anesthesiology, and nursing guided by detailed ultrasound imaging.
  • Sealing the lesion in utero reduces exposure to amniotic fluid, which can harm the developing nervous system and increase long‑term complications.
  • EsSalud leaders say the milestone strengthens the hospital’s capacity for high‑complexity fetal interventions available to insured families in Peru.