6 months ago
BRISTOL, England (CBS)-- Isaac Walker-Cox is a pretty average nine year old.
He says, "I like doing computers, swimming."
But this British boy had an extraordinary start in life. He was born thirteen weeks premature, then suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. It is something that can happen with very premature babies.
His father Steven Walker-Cox says, "We didn't give up hope, we just prayed about it."
Back in 2000, they decided their son would be one of the first babies to take part in a pioneering experiment in the hope of reducing the risk of severe brain damage. It is called DRIFT, which stands for Drainage, Irrigation, and Fibrinolytic Therapy. Two tubes are inserted into the baby's brain. One continually drains the old blood, debris and toxins from the hemorrhage. The second tube slowly pumps in clean, artificial fluid. Gradually the fluid runs clear - indicating the brain-damaging toxins are gone. Andrew Whitelaw, Professor of Neonatal Medicine at Bristol University describes DRIFT this way: "The inside of the brain is literally washed out. It's a bit like having a sink with a lot of coffee grounds in it, which are clogging up the drainage of the sink." In a recently published study of 77 premature babies who had bleeding in the brain after birth, those treated with the technique were far less likely to suffer disabilities later in life.
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