Doctors Remove Tumor From Baby's Heart While He's Still in the Womb

A children's hospital in Philadelphia, known worldwide for operating on babies who are still in the womb, has performed a historic procedure by removing a tumor on a baby's heart. 

Cecilia Cella was five months pregnant when a routine ultrasound showed a mass on her son Juan's heart. 

Cecilia and Juan's father, Pablo Paladino, both from Uruguay, were referred to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for an invasive procedure that would eventually save the baby's life. 

"The minute I saw this I recognized there was a giant tumor sitting on the heart," Dr. Jack Rychik, director of the Fetal Heart Program at CHOP, told CBS. 

The condition is pericardial teratoma and although it is rare, it is deadly. 

The only hope for Juan was for the doctors to operate on his heart while still inside Cecilia's womb. 

"I started laughing, like what, they do that," said Cella.

CHOP is the only hospital in the world that has successfully completed the risky fetal heart surgery before. 

"We're operating on two patients here with the single intent," Rychik said before the procedure. "Our goal is to get to the tumor and resect the tumor but we also have mother and baby."

The procedure was performed when Juan's mother was only 21 weeks pregnant. 

"His heart at the time of surgery was the size of a peanut. The size of the tumor was three-times the size of the heart," Rychik explained. "Had we waited an additional day, we probably would have been too late."

Juan survived the surgery, but shortly after his birth doctors discovered that the tumor had grown back. 

He had to be taken in for a second surgery.

"There were a lot of chances the baby was going to die," Pablo said.

Now the three-month-old is thriving and his parents are grateful for the work of the surgeons. 

"Crazy, unbelievable, I look at him, I can't believe what they did here," said Cella. "It's awesome."

"We are grateful that we came here," added Paladino. "The doctors are amazing."

Dr. Rychik said that Juan's future is still unknown. 

"There are no other human beings alive today who have had fetal surgery for this removal of this type of tumor that are 30, 40, 50, 60 years old. We could then say what the prognosis is going to be," he said.