A Baton Rouge baby's lifesaving first-of-its-kind surgery in utero last year will figure in ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy's" plot on Thursday night.
In the episode, titled "Baby Can I Hold You," pediatric surgeon Dr. Arizona Robbins is called back to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to handle a particularly complicated case.
Kenyatta Coleman got the news that her daughter Denver had the vein of Galen malformation following an ultrasound. The rare brain blood vessel abnormality is marked by misshapen arteries in the brain connecting directly with veins, instead of connecting with capillaries, which help slow blood flow, according to Boston Children's Hospital.
Denver's prognosis was bleak if the 20-minute surgery wasn't performed before her birth, her mother told Baton Rouge ABC affiliate WBRZ.
During the operation, 23 metal coils were positioned inside the malformation, slowing Denver's blood flow and relieving the stress on her heart, thus saving her life, WBRZ also reported.
The episode will include ultrasound photos of Denver and video clips from the procedure. Coleman told WBRZ that the series contacted Denver's doctor, Darren Orbarch, chief of neurointerventional radiology and co-director of the Cerebrovascular Surgery and Interventions Center at Boston's, to learn more about Denver's condition.
"Grey's Anatomy," now in its 20th season, airs at 8 p.m.