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When Katie Rice and her husband, Mike Roussin, realized that their unborn sun Tucker had already developed a heart tumor while he was still in utero, they were rendered completely speechless.
Tucker had intrapericardial teratoma, a condition where a tumor grows in the sac around the heart of an unborn child. The growth is usually benign, but can cause cardiovascular and respiratory problems because of its size and presence.
Right now, most doctors will try to drain some of fluid from this area, to grant the fetus time to develop more fully before delivery — and then surgery after birth.
For Tucker, this didn’t seem to be possible.
A follow-up scan a couple weeks later revealed that Tucker’s tumor had “swelled dramatically.” The only chance to save Tucker’s life was to operate now, in utero.
Doctors conferred with Rice and Roussin, both of whom agreed to follow through with the in utero procedure, in hopes of saving their son.
Tucker is the first child to undergo in utero heart surgery — and it was a great success.
“Removing a tumor from a baby's heart in-utero present significant risks for both the mother and the baby,” wrote Holly L. Hedrick, MD, attending pediatric and fetal surgeon at Tucker’s hospital. Timing and coordination early in the illness is vitally important.”
Thanks to the large team of surgeons and doctors on hand, everything regarding Tucker’s surgery went smoothly. Both mother and child recovered well, and Tucker, against all odds that had been stacked against him during pregnancy, has just turned three.
“Things are going beautifully,” Tucker’s surgeon agreed. “There's an emotional aspect of changing nature and where nature intends a poor outcome and reversing it 180 degrees and giving a normal outcome to this child.”
