Maternal Fetal Medicine

Researchers Identify Potential Prenatal Biomarkers of Congenital Heart Diseases
Researchers Identify Potential Prenatal Biomarkers of Congenital Heart Diseases 1024 637 Katelyn Scott
Heart with HLHS compared to typically developed heart

In a research letter published in Circulation Research, researchers at Nationwide Children’s describe a potential biomarker that would identify the presence of SVHD in a fetus based on a maternal blood test. Single ventricle heart diseases (SVHDs), the most severe type of congenital heart disease require immediate treatment after birth. A growing number of fetal…

Optimizing Prenatal and Neonatal Care for Infants With Treatable Rare Diseases
Optimizing Prenatal and Neonatal Care for Infants With Treatable Rare Diseases 1024 619 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

As new treatments emerge and diagnostics improve, earlier interventions offer infants with rare metabolic and neurodegenerative conditions a future wildly different than ever before. Not long ago, a diagnosis of molybdenum cofactor deficiency (MoCD) type A meant death before kindergarten. Since the FDA approval of NULIBRY® (fosdenopterin) in 2021, however, children diagnosed with MoCD type…

Fetal Surgery for Spina Bifida: Supporting A Bright Future Closer to Home
Fetal Surgery for Spina Bifida: Supporting A Bright Future Closer to Home 150 150 Alaina Doklovic

During her 20-week ultrasound appointment, Brittany Badenhop learned her baby had spina bifida, a term used to describe many disorders that occur during the development of the central nervous system. Spina bifida occurs very early on in a pregnancy as the embryo forms. Brittany and her husband Jared learned that their baby’s spine was not…

5 Things Neonatologists Should Know About Vitamin K Deficiency
5 Things Neonatologists Should Know About Vitamin K Deficiency 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD

Vitamin K prophylaxis is safe and effective. Why are more parents refusing it, and what can be done? In a new perspective paper in the Journal of Perinatology, researchers from Nationwide Children’s say that vitamin K prophylaxis is an essential component of newborn care and yet, parental refusal of the intervention is on the rise.…