British doctors have successfully removed a tumor from the lung of a girl still in her mother's womb using laser waves. The mother, Becky, watched the doctors on an ultrasound screen as they burst the tumor in her daughter Annie's left lung during the seventeenth week of pregnancy, just millimeters away from her heart, putting her life at risk. Professor Thilaganathan, who has worked in fetal medicine for over 20 years, stated, "We are doctors, not gods. It is not always possible to tell parents what they want to hear; it is important to balance hope with honesty about what they can expect."
The doctors allowed unprecedented camera access to follow all their movements, and the operation was broadcast through a documentary on British Channel 4, filmed at the specialized fetal medicine unit at St George’s Hospital in London. The doctors had informed Becky that her daughter Annie could die if the tumor was not removed from her lung. During the surgery, Professor Thilaganathan inserted a micro-needle through Becky’s womb into Annie to anesthetize her. Once anesthetized, he used one hand to hold a power converter over Becky’s belly to display the precise position of the baby on the ultrasound screen.
After that, Professor Thilaganathan began passing laser fibers using a small needle through the baby’s lung, releasing small and sharp bursts of energy to tear the blood vessels, effectively cutting off the blood supply to the tumor until it eventually died, allowing Annie’s lungs to develop normally, according to the British newspaper Mirror. Professor Thilaganathan added, "We were firing a laser beam four or five millimeters from the heart. We could have killed the baby. Sometimes we take significant risks and just hope it pays off." Fortunately, Annie was born healthy months later. Her father, Richard, said, "It was really worrying; they kept talking about her lungs, but when she was born, she started breathing normally. It was incredible."
