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Baby Noor undergoing surgery -- Iraqi child has potentially fatal birth defect
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Baby Noor, the Iraqi infant born with a severe form of spina bifida, is undergoing surgery today in Atlanta to enclose her spinal column.
Dr. Roger Hudgins, chief of neurosurgery at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, said Sunday he and plastic surgeon Fernando Burstein should complete the operation in about three hours.
The doctors and the hospital are donating their services.
Spina bifida, in which the vertebrae do not form completely around the spinal cord, is the most common of a group of birth defects called neural tube defects, affecting about one in 2,000 babies in the United States, Hudgins said.
Surgery usually is performed soon after birth; Noor is at least 3 months old.
Hudgins said Sunday he plans to arrange the spinal cord down the center of Noor's back and cover it with muscle and tissue. The child's spinal cord is now covered by a large lesion.
"Our objective tomorrow is to find that spinal cord, clean it off as much as possible, put it back down where it belongs, and then close multiple layers over top of it," Hudgins said. "At the same time, we'll be getting rid of that mass on her back."
A second surgery for Baby Noor, so nicknamed by soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Brigade, is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Hudgins told CNN.
A shunt will be inserted to drain fluid that is expected to move to the brain once the back lesion is closed, Hudgins said.
Noor likely will spend two or three weeks in the hospital, where she will undergo urological, orthopedic and other evaluations, Hudgins said.
Noor has the most severe form of spina bifida -- spina bifida aperta. Sufferers usually face nerve damage that can affect walking, bladder control and coordination.
Hudgins said Noor has not moved her legs, and will likely never walk. However, enclosing the spine will eliminate her risk of getting life-threatening meningitis and other infections, he said.
Hudgins, who called Noor "a sweetheart," predicted she will fare well in surgery.
"It is challenging and exciting, and the thing that makes it special for me is, number one, the connection with our soldiers in Iraq and what they've done to make this happen, and I feel honored to be a part of that."
"She is such an enchanting baby that just being around her makes you feel good."
Soldiers discovered Noor during a routine "knock-and-search" of the family's Baghdad home, and enlisted the help of a U.S. senator and charitable groups to bring her to the United States.
Noor, her grandmother and father are staying with a host family in Atlanta, arranged by Childspring International, an Atlanta-based national charity.
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