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'Superglue Baby' Healthy, Developing Normally

Courtesy of Jill Chadwick
/
KU Hospital

A three-month-old Kansas City-area baby shows no sign of problems following a first-of-its-kind surgical procedure a little more than two months ago at the University of Kansas Hospital. 

Ashlyn Julian was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm when she was just three weeks old.  A weak spot in one of her brain’s blood vessels had ruptured. 

Traditional brain surgery might have proven fatal at Julian’s age. So KU brain surgeon Koji Ebersole maneuvered a tiny catheter through blood vessel to deliver a drop of superglue.  It immediately stopped the bleeding. 

Ashlyn’s mom and dad, Jared and Gina Julian, say it’s hard to tell there was every anything wrong with her.

“She’s absolutely normal,” says Gina Julian. “If you didn’t know that she’d had the procedure, you’d never know.  She does everything on task that she’s supposed to do.”

Doctors say the superglue used in the surgery is similar to what’s in stores but it’s slightly modified to reduce irritation.

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