Spina bifida fetal surgery offered for the first time in the UK

In what are the first surgeries of their kind in the UK, a team from University College London (UCL), UCL Hospitals and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH; all London, UK) – in partnership with University Hospitals Leuven (Belgium) – has operated on the abnormally developed spinal cords of two babies in the womb. The two operations took place separately over the summer, where the team repaired the defect in the spines of two babies with open spina bifida. Until now, mothers could choose to have the fetal surgery abroad or have postnatal surgery after the baby is born, which is...