A Gozitan doctor, Steve Cordina, is being praised on the US media for giving new hope to an eight-month old American baby after cutting edge surgery.

Carley Staehling, a twin, was born at 35 weeks in a South Alabama Hospital last October with a vein of Galen arterial malformation in her brain. If left untreated, the condition could lead to multiple organ failure, severe developmental disabilities, seizures or even death.

In March, Dr Cordina, an interventional neurologist with USA Physicians Group, performed the first of three corrective procedures in which he embolized the blood vessels feeding the malformation in Carley’s brain.

“This diagnosis is typically devastating for the baby,” explained Dr Cordina, who is also assistant professor of neurology at the USA College of Medicine. “The malformation in Carley was taking a lot of blood. Even after her procedures in February and May, the malformation was still active.”

“After reading more about her condition, we were absolutely terrified,”  Zach Staehling, the baby's father, told Med School Watercooler.com.

“But from the start, Dr Cordina was confident that he could help Carley with the new procedure.”

In the latest procedure, Dr Cordina and his team stopped the blood flow from six blood vessels feeding into the malformation.

“The post-surgery MRI showed that the blood flow to the site had significantly decreased and that the malformation had clotted off which is essentially a cure,” said Dr Cordina. “Carley should continue to develop completely normally, just like her twin sister.”

“Words just can’t describe how we felt,” said Staehling. “That was the best moment of my life. We can never thank Dr Cordina enough for what he has done for our family.”

The surgery performed by Dr. Cordina at USA is unprecedented in the Gulf Coast region. An intervention of this type and magnitude is typically only performed at large specialty centers.

Full story at http://medschoolwatercooler.blogspot.com/2013/07/dr-steve-cordina-gives-hope-to-8-month.html