“We have a unique approach that is a technique first established in Brazil by Dr. Lapa, and we brought it over to the United States. Dr. Quintero and I have put together a fetoscopic treatment that is FDA approved to repair open spina bifida, that is entirely percutaneous (there is no laparotomy and no hysterectomy),” said Dr. Ramen Chmait, Director, Los Angeles Fetal Surgery.
Growing up in the 1960’s, Dr. Diana Farmer’s mother taught Sunday school for disabled children where she first met children who had spina bifida.
“It was a really crummy disease,” Farmer said. Dr. Farmer is now leading innovative research, which holds promise of saving lives and lifetimes.
Most mothers would probably tell their child to sit down and stop standing on the chair in the middle of their family photography session. But when you’re told your son will never walk and he mischievously climbs onto a chair with no help and stands there, posing for the camera … well, you let him do it.
This time last year, I was taking a pregnancy test. Today, I’m the mother of a healthy four month-old little boy who loves to smile and kick his legs like crazy.
Johnna Kerres tells her story of the surgery she and her son underwent before he was born. The fetoscopic surgery contributed to medical research.