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ACS Brief

Fellow Leads First Mid-Delivery Open Heart Surgery

February 25, 2025

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Dr. Said (center, green gloves) leading the operation. Credit: Maria Fareri Children's Hospital

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The surgical team during the operation. Credit: Maria Fareri Children's Hospital

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The surgical world recently saw a medical first—a successful open-heart surgery on a newborn patient during childbirth to correct a congenital heart defect.

Sameh Said, MD, FACS, chief of the Division of Pediatric and Adult Congenital Cardiac Surgery at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in the Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College in Valhalla, led the operation with a team of more than 20 specialists including OB-GYN surgeons.

The child had been diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, at 20-weeks gestation. The condition typically requires multiple operations in the child’s early days, starting within 1 week of birth, but an addition complication—no communication between the right and left side of the heart—necessitated immediate action.

Dr. Said and his team proceeded with a new and complex operation known as ex-utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT), where the newborn was partially delivered via cesarean section and remained attached to the mother’s umbilical cord during the procedure. Following the EXIT procedure, delivery was completed, and the infant continued with his planned course of cardiac surgeries, which began 24 hours later.

Commenting on the operation, Dr. Said added, the successful operation “should open the pathway for other babies who have similar problems.”

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