With wide open eyes, three-month-old Issa lifted his head inquisitively before resting his black hair on his father’s shoulder. On Monday, February 16, the baby was brought in for his weekly check-up at Groupe hospitalier régional Mulhouse Sud-Alsace. “He is doing very well, he is developing optimally for his age (…). He feeds well, breathes without difficulty, and gives us beautiful smiles,” said his pediatric hematologist Alexandra Spiegel Bouhadid during a press conference.
While Issa seemed oblivious, his parents, Sina and Viviane (whose family name was not disclosed), along with the health team caring for him, were fully aware of the medical achievement that enabled his smooth birth and current good health. During the third trimester of pregnancy, a midwife detected an abnormality by ultrasound. Alerted, Professor Edgar Montoya, head of the Women-Mother-Child Department at the hospital group, identified a rapidly growing 9-centimeter tumor located in the head and neck area.
The team then consulted Professor Laurent Guibaud from the Centre de Référence des Anomalies Vasculaires Superficielles des Hospices Civils de Lyon (reference center for superficial vascular anomalies at Hospices Civils de Lyon). He recommended the use of sirolimus. Traditionally used to prevent organ rejection after transplants, since 2023, under Professor Guibaud’s leadership, sirolimus has also been used to treat blood vessel malformations in utero.
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