This is a first in the medical field! Researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (USA) have designed a device reproducing the environment of a uterus that could significantly improve the survival of very preterm infants and reduce the risk of sequelae, according to a study
published in the journal Nature Communications , April 25, 2017. This device, consisting of a plastic bag filled with liquid and an oxygenation circuit connected to an umbilical cord, has been tested on lambs and the results are more than encouraging!
According to the
World Health Organization, 15 million babies are born prematurely (before 37 weeks) worldwide every year and the resulting complications are the leading cause of death among children under 18. less than 5 years old. Today, even if significant progress has been made in neonatal intensive care, there are still no concrete and reliable means to improve the survival or the state of health of babies born before term. This medical discovery, led by fetal surgeon Alan Flake and his team, therefore represents a real source of hope for science.
To achieve this result, the scientists therefore introduced lamb fetuses into the device after 15 to 16 weeks of gestation (which is equivalent to that of a human fetus in “extreme prematurity” of 23 to 24 weeks). Seven lambs were kept alive for more than 25 days! This is the first time that an external system like this has kept the vital functions of an animal in excellent condition for such a long time. The process could therefore work in the same way on premature babies since lambs have the same lung development as humans. Thus, if the device lives up to its promises, this artificial uterus could reduce the mortality rate from 90% to 10% and the risk of sequelae from 90% to 30%! Nevertheless, a problem persists:the risk of intracranial hemorrhage, which is the first risk of complication in premature children, cannot be assessed in lambs because their brains mature earlier than those of humans. Tests will therefore be continued over the next three to five years, hoping that this ingenious mechanism will see the light of day by then!
