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The care journey of the two twins who underwent a delicate fetal surgery at the Milan Polyclinic ended with the return home to Cosenza. The story originated in the 25th week of gestation, when a rapid worsening of the conditions of the two fetuses, due to feto-fetal transfusion syndrome, made it necessary to urgently transfer the mother from Calabria to the Mangiagalli Clinic of the Milan Polyclinic. Thanks to the care of the Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Surgery team, directed by Nicola Persico, the mother underwent in utero laser surgery on the same day, aimed at interrupting the placental vessels responsible for the imbalance in blood flow between the two twins. The operation was performed successfully and allowed the pregnancy to continue until the 29th week. The two twins were born in July and were subsequently cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Cosenza hospital.
After the period of hospitalization, in recent days, they returned home with their parents, at the end of a process that saw collaboration between the healthcare facilities involved and various institutions. The pregnancy was complicated by feto-fetal transfusion syndrome, a rare and potentially very dangerous condition that can occur in diamniotic monochorionic twin pregnancies, in which the two fetuses share the same placenta but grow in two separate amniotic sacs. Access to the obstetric emergency room of the Annunziata hospital in Cosenza and the first tests had highlighted a rapid deterioration in the cardiovascular conditions of the twins, putting their survival in utero at risk. In these pregnancies, in approximately 10-15% of cases, an imbalance can occur in the passage of blood between the two fetuses through the blood vessels present on the placenta: one twin, called “donor”, receives an insufficient quantity of blood, while the other, the “recipient”, is subjected to an excessive influx, with very serious consequences.
The Mother and Child Area department, led by Ernesto Leva, of the Mangiagalli Clinic of the Milan Polyclinic, represents a national reference for the monitoring and treatment of this pathology, with over 400 pregnant women followed. Having assessed the extreme urgency of the case together with the director of Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Surgery of the Milan Polyclinic, the Gynecology and Obstetrics professionals of the Annunziata hospital in Cosenza organized the transfer of the patient to Milan in a few hours, thanks to a flight made available by the Air Force, in synergy with the Prefecture of Cosenza. Arriving at the Milan Polyclinic, the mother of the twins underwent surgery on the same day. The multidisciplinary team of Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Surgery performed in utero laser surgery, with the aim of separating the blood vessels responsible for the feto-fetal transfusion and restoring a correct balance of blood flow between the two twins. The surgery was a perfect success.
The lady was then hospitalized for several days in the Mangiagalli Clinic, accompanied by her husband, to allow the monitoring and stabilization of the conditions of the two children. The twins returned home a few days ago. The twins were born in July, at the 29th week of gestation, and were subsequently cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Cosenza hospital. «This story – underlined the Councilor for Welfare of the Lombardy Region, Guido Bertolaso - demonstrates once again the extraordinary value of Lombard healthcare and its excellence. Faced with a complex and very delicate emergency, a patient was transferred from Calabria to Milan and found a highly specialized team at the Polyclinic, capable of intervening immediately with an extremely advanced fetal surgery procedure. This is the most concrete meaning of a healthcare that puts skills, technology and professionalism at the service of life.”