For the first time in Europe, the public University Hospital 12 de Octubre has managed to reverse a total obstruction of the small intestine due to meconium accumulation, known as meconium ileus, in a fetus diagnosed in utero with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), thanks to the administration of a novel oral treatment to the mother from the 31st week of gestation, carried out on an outpatient basis.
The Cystic Fibrosis Unit of the Madrid public hospital thus becomes the first in Europe and the second in the world to use a combined therapy of three drugs - elexacaftor, tezacaftor and ivacaftor - in a healthy pregnant woman to try to reverse this problem. serious in the fetus.
Specifically, the objective of eliminating this serious complication has been achieved, although the baby still has cystic fibrosis, the hospital clarified in a statement.
The results achieved with this therapeutic innovation, published in the journal 'Fetal Diagnosis
The mother, referred on October 12 from another health center due to suspicion of meconium ileus in the fetus, began taking the combination of the three drugs in the 31st week of gestation and continued it until the baby's fifth month of life. since the medication was transmitted to her child first through the placenta and then through breastfeeding.
After the birth, which developed normally, the child's evolution has been favorable from a nutritional point of view and he maintains follow-up of his disease in the Pediatric Pulmonology and Gastroenterology consultations of the Multidisciplinary Cystic Fibrosis Unit, they have detailed from the October 12 °.
The Cystic Fibrosis Unit, made up of pediatric and adult specialists, has worked on this process in a multidisciplinary manner with Nursing and the Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neonatology and Pharmacy services of the 12 de Octubre Hospital, thus managing to demonstrate that the prenatal use of This combined treatment can solve a meconium ileus situation if acted upon early.
Cystic fibrosis is a chronic, serious and progressive genetic disease that mainly affects the lung and pancreas, although it can also damage the respiratory, digestive - liver - and reproductive systems.
Its diagnosis is confirmed by determining the chlorine concentration in a sample of the patient's sweat and clinical manifestations usually appear in the first months of life.
In this case, it was diagnosed in the fetus through genetic study by amniocentesis, after ultrasound suspicion during pregnancy.
In this sense, the Cystic Fibrosis Unit of the 12 de Octubre University Hospital, which cares for more than 200 patients, is one of the units designated as a reference in the Community of Madrid, along with that of the Ramón y Cajal Hospital, for confirmation of this disease through neonatal screening, for monitoring and the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Given the need to address this pathology in adults and pediatric age, the Unit offers multidisciplinary care by highly qualified medical and nursing specialists in Cystic Fibrosis. To achieve this, it has a wide portfolio of services in which Pediatrics, Pulmonology, Digestive System, Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy directly participate.
In addition, it has the support of the Lung Transplant Unit and the services of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Urology, General Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Endocrinology and Nutrition, Otorhinolaryngology, Pharmacy, Microbiology, Immunology, Psychiatry, Genetics and Social Work.
