As part of the “Development of antenatal care in the Szczecin Sub-region – improving the quality and accessibility of medical services, and prophylaxis” project, the Zdroje Hospital has purchased a fetoscopy set – state-of-the-art equipment which enables detecting certain congenital defects, as well as conducting specialised surgical procedures on fetuses.
A congenital anomaly may sometimes develop in the prenatal period, which is likely to cause serious disability or even death immediately after the infant is born.
Prenatal diagnostics enables early detection of such disorders or conditions that may pose direct threat to the growing fetus.
Modern endoscopy techniques employing fetoscopy instruments foster early intervention that is intended to prevent the adverse consequences of certain congenital defects, or to restore conditions indispensable for the normal course of pregnancy.
Depending on the therapy type, fetoscopy is performed under general or local anaesthesia. By making a small abdominal incision, an optical device is placed in the uterus, along with the instruments necessary to perform the intended procedure. This method is less invasive, less damaging and less traumatic.
Some of the fetal abnormalities that may be treated by endoscopic fetoscopy are:
– Congenital diaphragmatic hernia /CDH/,
– Twin/twin transfusion syndrome /TTTS/,
– Amniotic band syndrome /ABS/,
– Open spina bifida /SBA/.
Fetoscopy surgeries will be conducted jointly by surgeons and neurosurgeons. Since 2015 medical specialists from Zdroje have undergone training at Deutches Zentrum fur Fetalchirurgie und minimal-invasive Therapie in Giessen, under the supervision of Prof. Thomas Kohl, the precursor of fetoscopy surgeries of the central nervous system in fetuses.
First surgeries in the Zdroje Hospital are scheduled for 2016.
