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Miracle Baby Born Twice: A Surgical First
5 May
Summary
- Baby born with rare airway blockage survived a novel in-utero surgery.
- Procedure involved partially delivering the baby for an emergency airway procedure.
- The infant now celebrates two birthdays for two significant life events.
Doctors delivered a baby boy, Cassian, partially at 25 weeks gestation to perform a never-before-attempted surgery. Cassian had been diagnosed with congenital high airway obstruction syndrome (CHAOS), a condition with a high mortality rate, due to a membrane blocking his airway and trapping fluid in his lungs. A previous attempt to surgically clear the airway at 22 weeks had failed.
Surgeon Dr. Emanuel Vlastos proposed delivering Cassian head and neck-first through a C-section incision, leaving the rest of his body connected to the placenta. This allowed the medical team to perform an emergency tracheostomy while the baby was still inside his mother, Keishera Joubert. The procedure was successful, securing Cassian's airway.
Cassian was fully born at 31 weeks gestation and spent 132 days in the neonatal intensive care unit. He remains on respiratory support and will require further surgeries. The family now celebrates two birthdays for Cassian: one for the date of the in-utero procedure and another for his full birth.
