IMFH | News & Events | 2009-1-16: Dr. Ramen Chmait Featured in HSC Weekly
HSC Weekly 01/16/2009
New CHLA-USC program offers innovative care to high-risk pregnancies
By Cheryl Bruyninckx
A new fetal therapy program, created by the Keck School of Medicine of USC, Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, is now providing innovative procedures for women with high-risk pregnancies.
The CHLA-USC Fetal Therapy Program is part of the Institute for Maternal Fetal Health. Ramen Chmait, director of the CHLA-USC Fetal Therapy Program, is one of a few surgeons west of the Mississippi who can perform specialized fetal surgery to treat conditions while the baby remains inside the womb. Chmait is also assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology, division of maternal-fetal medicine at the Keck School.
"Through this important collaboration, women with high-risk pregnancies have new options," he said.
A wide variety of fetal abnormalities can be treated through fetal surgery, including Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome—a rare condition seen in approximately 10 percent of twins who share the same placenta. The condition is caused by an unbalanced flow of blood through vascular channels that connect the circulatory systems of each twin through the common placenta.
As fetuses share the same placenta, blood flow to each twin becomes unequal. One fetus becomes overloaded with amniotic fluid and can develop heart failure, while the other—deprived of amniotic fluid—may develop low blood volume. In these situations, when left untreated, there is over a 90 percent chance neither baby will survive.
With the help of new technology, Chmait can perform fetal surgery on new mothers diagnosed with Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. A three-and-a-half-millimeter scope allows surgical access into the womb with minimal disturbance to the pregnancy and the mother. The surgery is performed under local anesthesia through an incision that is less than half of one centimeter.
"Fetal surgery gives women with high-risk pregnancies, such as Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, hope," said Chmait. "I quote my patients about a 90 percent chance that following this procedure at least one baby will survive and 72 percent chance that both babies will survive."
For more information, please call the Institute for Maternal Fetal Health at (323) 361-6074 or visit www.maternal-fetalhealth.org.
