Baby undergoes successful urgent surgery for brain cyst at Inova Fairfax
The Best for Baby
For first-time mom Gwynne Booth, everything went just the way she had hoped when she delivered her baby, Wren, at Inova Women’s Hospital last December. Despite a bump in the road — her 20-week ultrasound revealed a small benign cyst on her baby’s brain — Wren was born a happy, healthy baby.
But at Wren’s 6-month checkup, she was slightly under the weather and her head measurement was much larger than it had been at her 4-month visit. To rule out any neurological problems, the pediatrician recommended that Gwynne and her husband, Steve, bring Wren to the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus Emergency Room. A CT scan revealed that the cyst had grown and was preventing cerebral spinal fluid from draining. Wren was admitted to the hospital that night, and Gwynne and Steve stayed by her side.
Wren Booth Needed Urgent Surgery
The next morning, Leon Moores, MD, Associate Chair, Pediatric Neurosciences, Inova, evaluated Wren. Dr. Moores told Gwynne and Steve that a cyst of that size on a baby’s brain is rare, and Wren would need urgent surgery. Despite the scary diagnosis, Gwynne and Steve were confident that Wren would be fine.
“In addition to being a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Moores has this wonderful, reassuring bedside manner,” says Gwynne. “He put our minds at ease that things were going to be OK, that Wren was going to come through surgery well, and she did.”
Staying in Inova’s Pediatric ICU
The new parents found themselves surrounded by caring, competent staff who supported them during and after Wren’s surgery. For two weeks, they stayed in a private room with Wren in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Inova Children’s Hospital, where they were provided with breakfast, lunch and dinner so they never had to leave their baby’s side. “This was one of the worst situations you could ever imagine as new parents, but everyone was so wonderful to us and our baby,” says Gwynne.
Today, 1-year-old Wren is thriving.
“She’s hitting all her milestones and doing everything her pediatrician was hoping she’d do by this point, so it’s just a very happy outcome,” says Gwynne.
To learn more about Inova Children’s Hospital, visit inovachildrens.org or call 703-776-4002.
Inova’s Pediatric Neurosurgical Team Provides Highest Level Care Available
The pediatric neurosurgical team at Inova Children’s Hospital leads the way in multidisciplinary care for children with brain abnormalities.
“We are very well-positioned in Northern Virginia with a depth and breadth of specialists including radiologists, neurologists, anesthesiologists and intensive care doctors to be able to provide literally the highest level of neurosurgical care available,” says Leon Moores, MD. “It puts us in the position of being able to take care of kids close to home, so they can stay in Northern Virginia and still get world-class care.”
In addition to providing the highest level of surgical care, the hospital offers a Child Life Program to support children and their families during their hospital stay.