Spina Bifida Surgery:
Your Experience Depends on Our Experience
Prenatal spina bifida surgery is one of the most exciting developments in the history of treatment for birth defects. It is also an extremely complex procedure that requires extensive experience to perform successfully. Mothers who choose fetal surgery require the most expert and carefully coordinated care from the time of diagnosis, for the spina bifida surgery itself, and through the baby's delivery and care afterwards.
Spina bifida is the most common birth defect of the central nervous system, affecting about 1,500 babies born each year in the United States. A new spina bifida surgery breakthrough, reported on in the New England Journal of Medicine, is providing new possibilities to families faced with this devastating condition.
Read the Benefits of Spina Bifida Surgery Press Release
Read the study abstract in the New England Journal of Medicine
Listen to a New England Journal of Medicine podcast about the article
“This is the first time in history that we can offer real hope to parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of spina bifida,” said N. Scott Adzick, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief and director of the CHOP Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment. “This is not a cure, but this trial demonstrates scientifically that we can now offer fetal surgery as a standard of care for spina bifida.”
Today, that study continues, with important follow-up that will allow clinical teams to compare the lasting outcomes of prenatal repair verus standard postnatal repair. The ongoing participation of patient families and institutions involved in the original trial will provide valuable insight into the long-term effects of the latest treatment options for spina bifida, improving the standard of care for patients today and in the future.
Surgeons at CHOP's Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment were not only pioneers in fetal surgery, they developed the prenatal spina bifida surgery procedure and have the greatest collective experience in the world. The Center's large multidisciplinary team, including fetal surgeons, neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, fetal cardiologists and neonatologists, has worked together since 1995 — a level of ongoing collaboration that is unmatched.
Spina Bifida Surgery Breakthrough
Doctors and nurses discuss the long road to the first prenatal treatment for spina bifida.
Watch the Spina Bifida Treatment video »
Experience Is Everything
The spina bifida surgery breakthrough is the fruit of our more than 30 years of research
Review our fetal surgery for spina bifida publications »
Making a Difference
Read about the difference prenatal spina bifida surgery at CHOP makes in the lives of children.
Mia Capuano's spina bifida prognosis »
Sean Mulligan's spina bifida diagnosis »
A dedicated team and specially designed facilities
The Center's facilities at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia — from a centralized area for prenatal diagnostic imaging to its dedicated fetal operating rooms, from the Special Delivery Unit to the renowned Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit — have been designed specifically for prenatal surgery patients and babies with birth defects.
We know that when you entrust your baby’s life to us for spina bifida surgery, experience is everything.
Questions to consider when you choose a center for prenatal spina bifida surgery
- What is the experience of the individual team members in performing the prenatal spina bifida surgery and in caring for both patients: mothers and babies?
- Does the team include the following members: fetal surgeon; neurosurgeon; maternal-fetal medicine specialist; maternal and fetal anesthesiologist; fetal cardiologist; neonatologist; advanced practice, operating room, labor and delivery and neonatal surgery nurses?
- Similarly, what is the experience of the team working together to perform this procedure and provide all care around it?
- Was the center a participant in the landmark Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS)?
- Has the program published its basic and clinical spina bifida research findings in recognized scientific journals — thereby helping to advance the field’s knowledge?
- Is the pediatric hospital in which the fetal spina bifida surgery is performed ranked among the best in the world?
- Does the program have a dedicated birth unit within the pediatric hospital, staffed and fully equipped to manage the delicate delivery required after fetal surgery for spina bifida?
- Is the newborn intensive care unit experienced in caring for babies born after fetal surgery for spina bifida?
- Are all pediatric subspecialties that may be needed by the baby — such as orthopaedics, urology, physical therapy and radiology — immediately available?
- Does the hospital have a comprehensive program for long-term follow-up of spina bifida patients as they grow?
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