Fetal Therapy Center at UM/Jackson - 305-585-6636

The Fetal Therapy Center at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital offers patients the latest and most advanced resources in the field of prenatal diagnosis and therapy. Under the leadership of world-renowned physicians, UM/Jackson offers minimally invasive techniques that can successfully treat previously untreatable life-threatening conditions diagnosed in utero (while the baby is still in the womb). Fetal therapy can improve the survival rates for babies suffering fatal disorders and can prevent or reduce the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes, enhancing a baby’s overall quality of life. Fetal therapy can also significantly reduce the surgical risks to mothers and babies and the total costs of providing care to babies born with serious disorders and birth defects.
 
Patients are treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital, which serves as the primary teaching hospital for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. 

What is fetal therapy?

Fetal therapy is a therapeutic intervention used to correct or treat a fetal anomaly or condition. In almost every case where fetal therapy is needed, the fetus’s life is at risk due to the diagnosed condition.

Who needs to see a fetal therapy specialist?

The most common conditions for which fetal intervention is considered include:

Erythroblastosis fetalis refers to two potentially disabling or fatal blood disorders in infants: Rh incompatibility disease and ABO incompatibility disease. Either disease can be diagnosed in utero and can cause fetal death in some cases. The disorder is caused by incompatibility between a mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood. Because of the incompatibility, the mother's immune system may launch an immune response against the baby's red blood cells. As a result, the baby's blood cells are destroyed, and the baby may suffer severe anemia (deficiency in red blood cells), brain damage, or death.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) refers to abnormal development of the baby’s diaphragm and lungs.

Urinary tract obstruction can lead to the abnormal development of a baby’s kidneys and lungs. The urinary tract consists of two kidneys (where urine is made), two ureters (tubes which lead the urine into the bladder), the bladder, and the urethra (the tube which leads the urine from the bladder to the outside of the body). The urine should flow from the kidney, through the ureter, to the bladder, and out of the fetus through the urethra to the amniotic fluid.

There are many causes of urinary tract obstruction in the fetus. Most are caused by a narrowing at some point in the urinary tract. This narrowing can slow down or stop the flow of urine, and this in turn can interfere with the development of both the kidneys and the lungs.

Hydrops fetalis is a condition in the fetus characterized by an accumulation of fluid, or edema, in at least two fetal compartments. The edema is usually seen in the fetal subcutaneous tissue, sometimes leading to spontaneous abortion. It can be a prenatal form of heart failure, in which the heart is unable to satisfy the oxygen demand of the fetus.

Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a condition resulting from the unbalanced flow of blood between two fetuses sharing a common placenta. One twin carries too much blood, while the other carries too little. The condition affects up to 10 percent of identical twins in utero and without surgical intervention both babies could die.

Selective intrauterine growth restriction in monochorionic twins is the disproportionate distribution of placental mass between the twins (unequal sharing of the placenta). This factor may result in poor nourishment of one of the twins, resulting in subsequent poor overall fetal growth. Because this problem typically affects only one of the fetuses, the condition is called selective intrauterine growth restriction (SIUGR). SIUGR is estimated to occur in approximately 10% of monochorionic twin pregnancies.

Acardiac twins, otherwise known as twin reversed-arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence, is a rare and serious complication of monochorionic (one placenta) twins. Although the cause for the syndrome is not completely understood, it has been hypothesized that large vessels on the surface of the common placenta are responsible. Blood is perfused from one twin (pump twin) to the other twin (acardiac twin) by retrograde (backward) flow. Therefore, the acardiac twin receives deoxygenated (oxygen depleted) arterial blood from the pump twin in the wrong direction.