According to the City Children's Hospital, patient T.B. A is over 1 month old, residing in Can Tho. Previously, a 27-year-old pregnant woman, pregnant for the second time, discovered that the fetus had signs of abnormal cerebral ventricular dilation during a prenatal check-up at week 33 in Can Tho. After that, the pregnant woman was transferred to Can Tho Hospital for an MRI of the fetus. The results showed that the fetus had a blood vessel brain tumor with bleeding, large size, multiple vascular hyperplasia and with the risk of seriously affecting the fetus's life.
Faced with severe developments, the pregnant woman was transferred to Tu Du Hospital for pregnancy monitoring. Recognizing that prolonging the pregnancy could increase the risk of miscarriage, doctors agreed to perform proactive cesarean section to ensure safety for both mother and baby.
After birth, the baby was resuscitated at Tu Du Hospital and transferred to Children's Hospital when he was only 8 days old, weighing 3.3 kg. MRI results here showed that the brain tumor was about 35 x 35 mm in size, with multiple vascular prolapses. In addition, the baby had a large bleeding cyst with a diameter of about 70-90 mm and severe anemia.
The patient was transfused blood and treated with intensive resuscitation. After about 3 weeks, his health gradually stabilized, hemodynamics reached a safe level and conditions were sufficient for anesthesia to perform surgery.
According to Dr. Dang Do Thanh Can (Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City), this is a surgery with a high risk of bleeding because the patient is still very young and the tumor has many blood vessels. The team proactively prepared blood sources for transfusion throughout the intervention process.
Doctors used surgery microscopes with high magnification to clearly define the boundaries of damage, and at the same time performed step-by-step surgical procedures with specialized microsurgery instruments to minimize brain tissue damage. After nearly 5 hours of surgery, the entire tumor was removed. The patient maintained stable hemodynamics throughout the surgery and no serious complications were recorded after surgery.
Currently, baby T.B. A is awake, breastfeeds well, and moves hands and feet flexibly. Post-operative progress is favorable and is expected to be discharged from the hospital in about a week if his health continues to be stable.
The case shows that the detection of abnormalities from the pregnancy stage and timely coordination between obstetrics, pediatrics and neurosurgery departments is important in handling cases of complex brain damage in newborns.
