We are pleased to share that WakeMed has become the first hospital in the U.S. to successfully correct esophageal atresia – a rare condition in which a baby is born without part of his or her esophagus – without surgery. Traditionally, this condition is corrected by a difficult surgery, requiring lengthy hospitalization and an extensive recovery process. This non-invasive, breakthrough procedure was performed at Raleigh Campus last week on a seven-week-old baby girl who has been a patient in the NICU since birth.
Led by pediatric surgeon David Hoover, MD, a team of WakeMed’s interventional radiologists, neonatologists and others were able to use magnets placed by a catheter to repair the patient’s esophagus. The procedure, which was developed at the University of Chicago Medicine, was a complete success and thanks to the exceptional work of the WakeMed team, this baby girl who had been unable to swallow for the first seven weeks of her life is now eating normally and almost ready to go home.
