School News
Student Spotlight: MarchLook at Anna now
Risky fetal surgery paid off: Daughter is healthy, while latest
medical research is supportive
By: Sarah Avery, The Charlotte News ObserverRisky fetal surgery paid off: Daughter is healthy, while latest
medical research is supportive
Spina bifida is a leading cause of paralysis and has no cures and few effective interventions - until the fetal surgery was tried.
The operation requires a risky incision through the mother's uterus to the developing fetus.
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| Anna Williamson, 10, runs sprints during basketball practice in Cary. In 2001, doctors operated on Anna while she was in her mother's womb to correct a spina bifida lesion. Robert Willett-rwillett@newsobserver.com |
Doctors then repair the spinal lesion on the fetus, which is sometimes an open wound, and other times a bulging cyst.
By intervening before birth, researchers had hoped the brain and spinal column could then develop more normally and reduce problems.
The trial, analyzing 158 pregnant women, bears out those hopes.
The mothers were randomly assigned to either undergo the fetal surgery, or get traditional therapy that mends the baby's lesion after birth. Among the children who had prenatal surgery, 42 percent could walk without braces or crutches, compared to 21 percent of those who did not get the intervention.
In addition, far fewer of the surgical patients needed a shunt to drain brain fluid - a major complication of spina bifida that can lead to infections, additional surgeries, and declining mental abilities. Of the prenatal surgery group, 40 percent required a shunt, compared to 82 percent of those getting traditional care.
The study's encouraging results were foretold by Anna Williamson's experience. Now 10, the fourth-grader at Cary Christian School shows little evidence of having spina bifida, except for a slight hitch as she walks.
She loves sports - "She's just begging me every day to go play golf," says her dad, Jason - and also excels at art, sewing and handcrafts. A curious explorer, her favorite subjects are science and history.
Yet a decade ago, when the Williamsons opted to have the surgery, there were only about 100 other cases to help guide their decision.
"We were doing what we thought was right for Anna and our family," Susan Williamson said, adding that she was heartened by success stories but yearned for scientific data that would have made the decision easier.
Now, she said, the trial's confirmation that the surgery offers benefit provides clarity for new parents facing the same dilemma.
"It gives people hope, and I'm thankful for that," she said. "That is such a huge thing."
Still, the surgery remains dangerous. It often triggers premature births - Anna was born five weeks early - and the moms face complicated subsequent pregnancies. Susan Williamson's second child, Patrick, was also five weeks premature, although her two youngest children arrived with few complications. Only Anna has spina bifida.
Source:
1. The Charlotte News Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/03/01/2101164/look-at-anna-now.html.
Previous Charlotte News Observer stories about Anna, published in 2000:
A chance for Anna, part one: A daunting choice
A chance for Anna, part two: Surgery in the womb
A chance for Anna, part three: The ordeal of recovery
A chance for Anna, part four: The conclusion
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