WAUPUN, Wis. -- A high-risk procedure for a Waupun mother and advanced treatment from doctors at UW Health saved a newborn baby's life.
If you look at nearly 5-month-old Layla Maderle today, it would be very hard to know what she went through. She's a happy and healthy baby.
But when Andy and Ashley Manderle of Waupun were referred to the Center for Perinatal Care at UnityPoint Health–Meriter by their OB-GYN at UW Health due to abnormalities on Ashley’s 16-week ultrasound, they were nervous about what would happen to their child.
"The situation just seems so bad at the time," Andy Manderle recalled.
On February 1, the UW Health Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Center team performed a surgery to save the life of the couple's baby.
The surgery is called ex-utero intrapartum treatment, or EXIT, which enables the team to partially deliver the baby via cesarean and establish a safe airway before completing the cesarean delivery.
Ashley Manderle said she was very nervous about the procedure but trusted the doctors at UW Health.
"As a mother, you do what you have to for your kids," she said. "If that meant putting my life on the line, then that's what I had to do."'
"It was scary," Andy Manderle added. "I think the worst part of it was saying goodbye in the pre-op room, not knowing if I was going to see my wife and kid later that evening."
Doctors delivered the head, neck, one arm and the 17-centimeter tumor blocking the baby’s airway, while Ashley Manderle was under anesthesia. They had 30 minutes to establish an airway around the tumor while keeping the rest of the baby supported by her mom via the placenta, which provides oxygen and blood flow. After 30 minutes, placental support would run out and the baby would need to be fully delivered.
The expert team completed the procedure in just 12 minutes.
A three-dimensional model was created from Layla’s fetal MRI to help doctors plan for the surgery and counsel the Manderles, according to Dr. Inna Lobeck, pediatric and fetal surgeon and director of the UW Health Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Center. The fetal MRI and surgery took place at American Family Children’s Hospital.
“Our fetal diagnosis and treatment team met Ashley at 20 weeks, and we developed a game plan with experts from maternal-fetal medicine, ear, nose and throat, plastic surgery and neonatal intensive care,” Lobeck said. “The tumor was growing quickly and was by far the largest one we’ve seen at our center.”
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