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Fetal surgical intervention: progress and perspectives

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Abstract

Building upon over 30 years of experimental and clinical development, fetal surgery can be argued to be a standard of care for selected indications, though application of these techniques remains limited to a small number of highly selected fetuses, and availability to a small number of highly specialized centers. Despite its limited application to date, the field of fetal surgery continues to evolve, spurred both by technological advances allowing earlier and more accurate diagnosis of fetal anomalies as well as improved capability to intervene when appropriate. The efficacy of fetal surgical intervention has now been validated for selected indications by well-designed, randomized controlled trials. In this review, we summarize the evidence or lack thereof supporting the current most common indications for fetal surgical intervention.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge expertise and unparalleled clinical commitment of the multidisciplinary staff of the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy and the Special Delivery Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. AWF is supported in part by funds from the Ruth and Tristram C. Colket Jr. Chair in Pediatric Surgery. JDV is supported in part by a Resident Research Scholarship from the American College of Surgeons.

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  1. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, Department of Surgery, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Abramson Research Bldg, Rm 1116B, 3615 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4318, USA

    Jesse D. Vrecenak & Alan W. Flake

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Correspondence to Alan W. Flake.

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Vrecenak, J.D., Flake, A.W. Fetal surgical intervention: progress and perspectives. Pediatr Surg Int 29, 407–417 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-013-3304-x

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