Telangana: Rainbow Institute achieves rare success in developing fetal heart

Hyderabad: Rainbow Children’s Heart Institute has achieved one of the world’s first successful clinical cases of direct fetal immunotherapy for the treatment of immune-mediated fetal myocarditis, a rare and life-threatening heart condition in unborn babies. This breakthrough, published in JACC: Case Reports, places the Hyderabad-based institute among the few centers worldwide to demonstrate success with this advanced in-utero intervention.

The study included five fetuses diagnosed between 21 and 27 weeks of pregnancy with severe immune-related cardiac disease caused by maternal antibodies. Conventional maternal therapy was insufficient, leading doctors to administer immunotherapy directly to the fetuses under advanced imaging guidance. Following treatment, all five fetuses experienced significant improvement in heart function, normal heart rhythms, and reduced fluid retention.

All babies were born alive and remained clinically stable after birth, giving new hope to families facing prenatal heart problems.