St. Petersburg Doctors Save Three-Day-Old Newborn from Nizhny Novgorod with Rare Brain Disorder

Newborn survives rare brain malformation after emergency surgery in Russia

After examination, doctors diagnosed the infant with a life-threatening brain condition: a vein of Galen arteriovenous malformation. Without surgery, survival is nearly impossible—the heart cannot handle the strain, and fragile brain vessels may rupture at any moment.

There is a treatment for such cases: endovascular embolization. The procedure involves surgeons sealing off abnormal vessels with coils or polymers. This highly complex intervention is performed in only a few federal clinics across Russia.

Following a decision by Dmitry Ivanov, Russia's chief neonatologist and rector of St. Petersburg Pediatric Medical University, the newborn was urgently evacuated to St. Petersburg. On April 26, doctors successfully performed the life-saving endovascular procedure.

Earlier, Pravda-NN reported that a 65-year-old man from Nizhny Novgorod had been revived after suffering cardiac arrest.