![]() Neonatal care practices have improved overall survival of premature infants and have pushed the limits of viability to 22 to 23 weeks of gestation. We’ve reimagined how to improve outcomes for babies born too early. Extreme prematurity is the nation’s leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity, accounting for one-third of all infant deaths and one-half of all cases of cerebral palsy attributed to prematurity. births that are premature (younger than 37 weeks gestational age), about 30,000 per year are critically preterm - younger than 26 weeks. Electronic monitors measure vital signs, blood flow and other crucial functions. The fetal lambs grow in a temperature-controlled, near-sterile environment, breathing amniotic fluid as they normally do in the womb, their hearts pumping blood through their umbilical cord into a gas exchange machine outside the bag. ![]() The innovative system uses a unique fluid-filled container attached to custom-designed machines that provide physiologic support. They tested and monitored effects on fetal lambs, in which prenatal lung development is very similar to that occurring in humans. Flake, MD, a Fetal Surgeon and Director of the Center for Fetal Research in the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).įlake and colleagues report on preclinical studies of their extra-uterine support device today in Nature Communications. ![]() “Our system could prevent the severe morbidity suffered by extremely premature infants by potentially offering a medical technology that does not currently exist,” said study leader Alan W. A unique womb-like environment designed by pediatric researchers could transform care for extremely premature babies, by mimicking the prenatal fluid-filled environment to give the tiniest newborns a precious few weeks to develop their lungs and other organs. ![]()
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