Scientists hail 'sci-fi' treatment for babies with rare condition

The parent of a babe whose tummy and bowel "moved into her chest" has hailed caller probe aimed astatine treating her daughter's uncommon condition.

Amelia Turner was fixed life-saving country astatine Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) erstwhile she was a fewer days old.

She suffered from terrible congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) - a perchance fatal information affecting 1 successful each 3,000 babies.

The information means the diaphragm - the musculus betwixt the abdomen and the thorax - has not afloat developed.

As a result, organs that are expected to beryllium wrong the abdomen could determination into the thorax abstraction and crush fragile increasing lungs. It means babies don't person capable abstraction to turn afloat formed lungs.

Current attraction for terrible CDH involves country portion the babe is successful the womb, with surgeons delicately placing a surgical balloon into the baby's windpipe to stimulate the lungs to grow. This lone increases endurance likelihood to 50%.

'A implicit whirlwind'

Amelia's mother, Georgia Turner, 26, from London, said uncovering retired she had the information made her gestation "a implicit whirlwind".

"The squad hoped Amelia's information would lone beryllium moderate," she said. "Unfortunately, aft Amelia was born, the objective squad told maine however superior her information was arsenic her bowel and tummy had moved into her chest."

Amelia spent 4 months recovering connected the neonatal portion astatine GOSH, past different 3 months astatine her section hospital, earlier she could spell location for the archetypal time.

The "cheeky" 17-month-old needed a 2nd country aft her CDH reoccurred erstwhile she was 15 months old.

It's hoped caller probe volition not lone marque attraction little invasive and importantly summation endurance rates but besides little the chances of relapses.

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Science-fiction made real

A strategy developed by experts astatine GOSH and University College London successful the UK, and KU Leuven successful Belgium, would spot attraction delivered consecutive to a babe portion inactive successful their mother's womb.

It would spot nanodiamonds utilized to transportation a hormone, known arsenic vascular endothelial maturation origin (VEGF), which stimulates lung growth.

It was tested connected lab-grown mini-lungs, utilizing 3D printing to simulate compression, arsenic good arsenic rats with the condition.

One of the experts, Dr Stavros Loukogeorgakis, a GOSH surgeon, said: "Nanodiamonds, 3D-printing and maturation hormones successful the womb each sounds a spot science-fiction. But this probe is truly showing america what is possible."

He said the attraction could beryllium disposable to families successful arsenic small arsenic 5 years.

Ms Turner said: "New probe similar this is large to spot however experts are trying to marque the attraction for CDH much palmy for each children, and little invasive.

"Hopefully amended treatments volition besides forestall relapse cases similar Amelia."