OB/Gyn's and fetal surgery?

[PoetMD]

Hi,
I was wondering if any places are now allowing OBGyns to do fetal surgery? A post from 2005 said that it was only pediatric surgeons, but I was wondering if that's changed since then?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Global Disrobal]

1. Depends on the extent and nature of the procedure: Smaller procedures such as fetoscopy or shunt are done by MFM's. You should look up Moise at Baylor for an example of these. The more extensive & involved procedures are done by Peds Surgeon with assistance from MFM's/OBG with respect to entry into uterus & closure.

2. Depends on the training program: There are select programs in the nation providing fetal surgery such as Texas and Philly; so if you're interested in this you may want to check them out.

3. Lastly, in what context are you looking at this? Is this a career aspiration and trying to figure out the best approach?

GD

 

[SippiGirl08]

he's prob just wondering how much of addison on grey's anatomy is realistic.

 

[drlexygoat]

U of South Florida MFM does a fair amount of fetal surgery, esp for twin twin transfusion syndrome. Dr Quintero is a pioneer in the field and is in the news a few times a year for some "first time ever" surgery he's done. Exciting stuff!

 

[GYN DOC]

I think baylor has a program

 

[Global Disrobal]

As I mentioned above, Baylor has a program under Dr. Moise. On that note, that is an up and coming program that you 3rd-4th years should keep an eye on. They also took one of the top MFM fellows in the country onto their staff this year as well.

 

[greenfeild]

 

[nykka3]

Hmm... what does this face mean?

 

[ozzidoc]

Hmm... what does this face mean?

Is it green-with-jealousy?

 

[cali-ob]

I believe there's a guy at USC (in Cali not south carolina) who does fetal surgery in the MFM dept. i forget his name...he was one of my interviews in 2006.

 

[goodsamob]

A collaboration of the University of Cincinnati, Good Samaritan Hospital (Cincy), and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has produced the Fetal Care Center, one of only 3 of its kind in the country (unless another has popped up in the last few months). They specialize in a wide range of very cool fetal surgery. I find this stuff fascinating. We get referrals from all over the country.

You can check them out at www.fetalcarecenter.org

 

[Spectatorsport]

I agree Fetal Surgery is pretty amazing.

There are a couple places in the country that are doing Fetal Cardiac Intervention for babies with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. I believe Boston Children's and CHOP are the only 2 centers actively doing these procedures. The procedures are in-utero aortic valve enlargements which are performed by ultrasound guided needle balloon dilation. Also, people are currently researching open fetal heart surgery, in which the fetus is actually placed on bypass (heart lung machine) so that the fetal heart can be repaired in a bloodless field. I believe Stanford attempted the only known case back in the early 2000's but it has not been followed up at any other center yet.

I believe Cincinnati Children's now offers a Fetal Surgery Fellowship, but it requires that you have at least completed your general surgery training and are board certified. Also Dr. Harrison at UCSF (considered the father of fetal surgery), is still there and I think they have a training program there also.