Samuel Armas
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
| Samuel Armas | |
|---|---|
| Image:Samuel Armas Aug19 1999.jpg Samuel Armas arm slipping out of his mother, Julie Armas's, womb. Doctor's hands are Dr. Joseph Bruner. Photographed by Michael Clancy | |
| Born | Samuel Alexander Armas December 2 1999 Villa Rica, Georgia, US |
| Residence | Villa Rica, Georgia |
| Nationality | Template:Country data US |
| Known for | Had his picture taken while still in the womb |
| Parents | Alex and Julie Armas |
Story behind the photo
The photograph was taken during a pioneering surgical procedure undertaken on August 19 1999 to fix the spina bifida lesion of a 21-week-old fetus in the womb. The operation was performed by a surgical team at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. The team, Dr. Joseph Bruner and Dr. Noel Tulipan, had been developing a technique for correcting certain fetal problems in mid-pregnancy. Their procedure involved temporarily opening the uterus, draining the amniotic fluid, partially extracting and performing surgery on the tiny fetus, then restoring the fetus to the uterus back inside the mother.
Samuel Armas
Alex and Julie Armas first discovered that their baby had spina bifida during an ultrasound at 14 weeks after conception mark. The Armases came across the Vanderbilt procedure while researching their options online.[1]
The baby Samuel Armas was the 54th fetus operated on by the surgical team[1]. During the operation Dr. Joseph Bruner was successfully able to alleviate the effects of the opening in Samuel's spine caused by the spina bifida.
Around the world
Pictures from the surgery were printed in a number of newspapers in the U.S. and around the world, including USA Today. As a result of the operation, Armas was healthy when he was delivered on December 02, 1999.
On September 25, 2003 the boy's parents, Alex and Julie, testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space about the photo and their experience with in-utero surgery.
| “ | Today, Samuel is nearly four years old and has not had to endure the surgeries that are common for most children with spina bifida. He's walking with leg braces, is cognitively normal, and loves looking for bugs. | ” |
— Alex Armas[1]
|
Matt Drudge
In 1999 Matt Drudge hosted a Saturday night television show called Drudge on the Fox News Channel. In Nov 1999 he attempted to show Samuel's picture on his Fox News program, but was not allowed to by the network. This led to his leaving of the show for what he claimed to be the network's censorship. Fox news directors didn't want to use the picture because they feared Drudge would use it to support an anti-abortion argument. They viewed this would be misleading because the tabloid photo dealt not with abortion but with an emergency operation on the fetus for spina bifida.[1]
Controversy
The picture attracted a lot of attention as when it was released it was seized upon by opponents of abortion who asserted that that the baby reached through the womb and grabbed the doctor's hand thus showing signs of life at the 21st week of pregnancy. Indeed the photograph and many of the texts which often accompany it seem to support this view including the account of the photographer Michael Clancy:
| “ | As a doctor asked me what speed of film I was using, out of the corner of my eye I saw the uterus shake, but no one's hands were near it. It was shaking from within. Suddenly, an entire arm thrust out of the opening, then pulled back until just a little hand was showing. The doctor reached over and lifted the hand, which reacted and squeezed the doctor's finger. As if testing for strength, the doctor shook the tiny fist. Samuel held firm. I took the picture! Wow!
It happened so fast that the nurse standing next to me asked, "What happened?" "The child reached out," I said. "Oh. They do that all the time," she responded. | ” |
— - Michael Clancy[1]
|
However the surgeon later stated that Samuel and his mother, Julie, were under anesthesia and could not move. "The baby did not reach out," Dr Bruner said. "The baby was anesthetized. The baby was not aware of what was going on." [1].
Cultural References
The event has been referenced in two medical TV series; the drama House, in the episode Fetal Position and the sitcom Scrubs, in the episode My Road to Nowhere.
References
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
