Volumes and Outcomes: Fetal Anomalies
Experience Matters: Fetal Diagnosis Volumes and Outcomes
By the Numbers More than 30,426 patients referred to the Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment More than 20,723 patients evaluated at the Center2,246 fetal surgeries performed at the Center (before birth) 6,120 deliveries in the Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit since opening in June 2008. All numbers except deliveries reflect data from July 1995 to January 2023 at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Since opening in 1995, the Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment (CFDT) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has cared for more than 30,426 expectant parents from all 50 states and more than 70 countries.
Our multidisciplinary team has the world's greatest collective experience treating fetuses and infants with congenital anomalies.
Many of the fetal anomalies we treat at the CFDT are quite rare; a physician may encounter only one or two cases in an entire career, while our team sees and treats these complex anomalies every day. This experience helps us to provide the best possible care for your baby.
Conditions treated
As part of one of the top-ranked and largest children’s hospitals in the U.S., we have a high volume of patients and treat the full range of fetal anomalies
Our large patient volume and the diversity of cases we see every day give us a depth and breadth of experience that helps us provide the best care possible.
Total cases: 30,426
Types of birth defects, by percentage and number, referred to the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment (CFDT) at CHOP (1995 - January 2023). Congenital heart disease is evaluated by the Fetal Heart Program, in collaboration with the CFDT.
Conditions We Treat at the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment
Miscellaneous: 4,668
Complicated Multiples: 4,312
Neurologic Abnormality: 3,876
Congenital Heart Disease: 3,869
Myelomeningocele (Spina Bifida): 2,883
Genitourinary Defects: 2,859
Lung Lesion: 2,773
Gastrointestinal Anomalies: 2,343
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia:
1,845
Neck Mass: 556
Sacrococcygeal Teratoma: 386
Hematologic/Immune: 56
Fetal surgery procedures
Our team has performed more than 2,246 fetal surgeries, more than any other hospital in the world.
The following chart breaks down our team's fetal surgery experience performing many highly complex surgical interventions.
This chart showcases the number and types of fetal surgery procedures performed at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment between 1995 and January 2023. Total cases: 2,246
Prenatal surgery is not indicated in all cases. Many other patients with fetal anomalies are treated surgically after birth by CHOP's multidisciplinary team of experts.
Fetal Surgeries for Congenital Anomalies
Fetoscopic procedures involving
multiples: 1,268
Open procedures for MMC,
SCT, CCAM: 493
Shunts - TA/VA/cystoscopy: 251
EXIT procedures: 102
Other: 88
EXIT procedures following open
fetal surgery: 13
Fetal cardiac procedures: 7
Fetal myelomeningocele repair outcomes
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was one of three clinical centers to participate in the seven-year Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS). This information compares our experience with fetal myelomeningocele (MMC) repair since the MOMS results were announced in December 2010.
Complicated monochorionic twin pregnancies
Our team cares for a high volume of monochorionic twin pregnancies each year. Since 1995, more than 4,312 complicated multiple gestation pregnancies have been referred to the Wood Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment. This experience helps to continuously expand our understanding of these complex pregnancies and our ability to differentiate between conditions such as twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR), and twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence.
A quick look at our patient volumes and outcomes prove the Center is a nationally recognized resource for evaluation and treatment of complicated twin pregnancies — specifically those affected by twin-twin transfusion syndrome.
