Baby Noor's first surgery leaves doctors optimistic

ATLANTA — The Iraqi infant known as Baby Noor successfully underwent surgery Monday, a process that put all of her spinal cord in its proper place inside her body, doctors said.

Noor al-Zahra, who was born three months ago with spina bifida, was "doing well" at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta after the first of at least three planned operations, said hospital spokesman Kevin McClelland.

Dr. Roger Hudgins, a pediatric neurosurgeon, said Noor likely will be paraplegic, "typical of a child born this way." But Hudgins, who had said earlier that Noor was likely to die without medical treatment, said "it is my hope she will be developmentally and mentally normal."

The infant was smiling and cooing after the operation, Hudgins said.

Noor's grandmother and father cried "tears of joy and relief when they learned she was out of surgery and in recovery," said Helen Shepard of Childspring International, the group that provided a host family for them and will arrange medical care when Noor gets back to Iraq.

Christina Porter, the organization's American director, said the grandmother said repeatedly in Arabic: "Thank you America. Thank you."

Baby Noor was discovered several weeks ago by U.S. troops raiding a house west of Baghdad. The soldiers noticed paralysis in the baby's legs and what appeared to be a tumor on her back.

In spina bifida, the backbone and spinal cord fail to close before birth. The apparent tumor the soldiers saw was actually a fluid-filled sac containing part of the baby's spinal cord, and membranes that are supposed to cover the spinal cord.

One of the soldiers, Lt. Jeff Morgan, e-mailed a friend in Douglasville, Ga., who is a social worker. They enlisted the help of a variety of officials and social-service organizations. Through those efforts, Noor, her grandmother and her father were brought to the United States late last month.

Hudgins said Monday that Noor has about a 5-inch row of staples in her back, which is now "nice and flat. He said a brain scan would be conducted Tuesday to determine if there was any buildup of fluid. If there is, doctors might have to operate Wednesday to remove it.

He said he would like to have her remain in Atlanta for follow-up treatment and she will have to work with a neurologist and orthopedic surgeon.

Children's Healthcare is providing treatment for free. The surgery and accompanying care would cost about $200,000 if it were billed, officials have said.