title: Endoscopic tracheal obstruction with an expanding device in a fetal lamb model: preliminary considerations.
abstract: Tracheal obstruction to promote lung growth may be a less aggressive alternative to open fetal surgery in the antenatal treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Herein, we explore the feasibility of placing an occluding device through fetal tracheoscopy. A self-expanding umbrella allowed adequate sealing of the tracheal lumen even as the tracheal diameter more than doubled between 110 and 138 days of gestation (term = 145 days) in a sheep model. Distal intratracheal pressures after umbrella placement, and lung weight at delivery, were comparable to those after formal tracheal ligation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI 02903, USA.
authors.forename: F I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Luks
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Gilchrist
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Piasecki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D006548:Hernia, Diaphragmatic / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D065630:Hernias, Diaphragmatic, Congenital; D011247:Pregnancy; D012756:Sheep; D014135:Tracheal Stenosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology