General Hospital Spoilers: Sonny And Carly Pray For A Baby Miracle — All They Can Do Is Wait!

General Hospital (GH) spoilers tease that Sonny and Carly Corinthos (Maurice Benard, Laura Wright) will wait and pray for a miracle as Baby Corinthos is born and in surgery for the spina bifida meningocele that was detected in Carly’s prenatal tests.

General Hospital Spoilers – The Surgery Could Be Very Serious, Even Life-Threatening

The surgery could be very serious, and even life-threatening depending upon how serious the defect is. If Baby Corinthos has the form called myelomeningocele, this is the most severe and happens when the spinal cord and neural elements are exposed, the spine not having closed properly in utero. This can result in partial or complete paralysis of the parts of the body below the opening, including internal organs such as the bladder and bowels, and the baby may never be able to walk.

General Hospital viewers will recall that Baby Corinthos will at the very least be born with spina bifida meningocele, the lesser serious of the meningocele, in which spinal fluid and meninges stick out through an abnormal opening around the vertebrae and may or may not be covered by skin.

The baby could still have complete paralysis with bladder and bowel dysfunction, or after surgical repair, no symptoms at all, and will grow up to lead a normal life. However, General Hospital fall previews indicate that the baby may have a more serious form, saying that the Corinthos family will be severely tested, and may not survive intact. As far as the possibility that the baby could die during the surgery, there is always a possibility of a patient dying during surgery, no matter what the age of the patient or what the surgery is for.

GH Spoilers – What If Baby Corinthos Has The Most Serious Form?

The difference between the most serious of the forms of spina bifida meningocele and the lesser serious seems to be that in the worst form, the neural elements are exposed. This means the nerve roots that are normally attached to the spine.

Among the conditions that Baby Corinthos could experience as he or she grows older is a condition called “progressive tethering”; sometimes called “tethered cord syndrome”. The baby’s spinal cord could become fastened to immovable internal body parts such as overlying spinal membranes and vertebrae, causing the spinal cord to become abnormally stretched as he or she grows. Sometimes this can be corrected if caught early and may help the child return to their baseline level of functioning and help prevent further deterioration of the neurological system.

Some children need subsequent surgeries to help with problems they may have with their hips, spine or feet. Some suffer hydrocephalus, which means excess cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the fluid-containing cavities of the brain, increasing pressure within the skull. If Baby Corinthos develops this condition, he or she will require a shunt to drain out the fluid, and additional surgeries to replace the shunt, as it becomes outgrown, clogged, or infected.

Some children are helped later on with assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, crutches, leg braces or walkers. The location of the spina bifida on the spine, higher or lower, depends on what kind of complications could arise and how serious they are. Hydrocephalus would probably be the most devastating outcome and the most difficult for both the baby and the family to deal with!

Stay tuned to General Hospital and keep checking GH spoilers frequently for all the latest news, updates and developments!