Kansas Infant’s Brain Aneurysm Fixed With Superglue

Superglue gives a 3-week-old infant with a brain aneurysm, giving baby Ashlyn Julian another shot at life.

Dr. Koji Ebersole of Olathe, Kansas injected surgical superglue to stop a brain aneurysm from bursting inside 3-week-old Ashlyn Julian.

Born on May 16, little Ashlyn seemed to start acting strangly soon after she was brought home from the hospital.

According to CBS News,, Gina Julian, the baby’s mother, took Ashlyn to the Children’s Mercy Hospital to see what was wrong.

Gina told CBS affiliate KCTV in Kansas City, Missouri, “We go from a baby that was very quiet to a baby that was screaming all the time and throwing up, and at that point we knew something was very wrong.”

After having an ultrasound done, the test revealed that baby Ashlyn had a brain aneurysm, which is a blood-filled bulge that protrudes from a think blood vessel.

Doctors then transferred Ashlyn to the University of Kansas Hospital, where they found the aneurysm had already grown to be the size of a walnut.

Because this condition is so rare, there are no tools available to help remove the aneurysm from someone so young.

Ebersole said that there was little hope of Ashlyn healing on her own, so a plan needed to be made up and quick.

According to CBS News, Ebersole proposed using the smallest microcatheter, which is a tube as thin as a strand of hair.

“He put it into a blood vessel in Ashlyn’s hip and ran it through her body to the brain. Then, he injected superglue in order to stop the bleed.

“The glue was deposited before it set, which takes about 10 seconds. The whole procedure took 45 minutes.”

“The only way I could close that aneurysm with that small of an instrument was with the glue,” Ebersole said to KCTV.

“Our instruments are several feet long. I just needed a couple of inches to get the job done. . . . We were able to navigate through the twists and turns of her body and brain to get to the aneurysm.”

The surgery was reported to be successful, and little baby Ashlyn is expected to make a full recovery.

“It’s extremely favorable for the baby. We are thrilled we have given her the best chance to have a perfectly happy life,” Ebersole said. “I think it’s going to be a normal childhood.”

Superglue just happened to be baby Ashlyn’s lucky break it would seem, as it was the one tool that was able to fix the infant’s brain aneurysm.

[Image via Shutterstock/Jezper ]