Maternal and Fetal Medicine Research at the Colorado Fetal Care Center

Our research at the Colorado Fetal Care Center is driven by our belief that all children, even those not yet born, deserve the best chance at a brighter future. Through collaboration in ongoing multicenter trials, we're able to:

• Offer some of the most innovative fetal therapies available today
• Continually advance the standard of care for maternal and fetal medicine
• Develop new therapies across the perinatal spectrum, from obstetrics to neonatology

Our research, in partnership with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, allows us to continually advance the standard of care for and treatments of infants, expecting mothers and high-risk pregnancies.

Maternal and fetal medicine advancements

We're known around the world for groundbreaking innovations in fetal care research that are revolutionizing the care and treatment of both mother and child in high-risk pregnancies. Some of our team's most significant advancements include:

Revolutionizing myelomeningocele (MMC) treatment and repair

Our fetal surgeons are advancing and innovating prenatal treatment and repair for fetuses with myelomeningocele. In our efforts to improve MMC patients' quality of life, reduce complications and obtain better outcomes, our researchers have made several significant contributions, innovating the way fetal surgeons approach MMC. These efforts include:

• Our experts evaluated long-term flow patterns in the ductus arteriosus before, during and after fetal MMC repair to potentially reduce the incidence and/or severity of ductus arteriosus (DA) constriction and fetal cardiac dysfunction during open fetal surgery.
• In an effort to reduce the need for shunting, our fetal surgeons became the first in the world to use 3D printing to prefabricate MMC templates before surgery.
• For patients having open fetal surgery for MMC, we assessed the efficacy of a modification to the hysterotomy closure technique by evaluating complication rates at the time of cesarean delivery.

Improving outcomes for fetuses twin-to-twin (TTTS) transfusion syndrome

We are one of the country's highest volume fetal centers treating twin-twin transfusion syndrome. Our multidisciplinary team of maternal fetal medicine specialists, specialized physicians, fetal cardiologists and pediatric fetal surgeons collaborate to improve outcomes for laser photocoagulation, increase survival and decrease prematurity for babies with TTTS.

In an effort to guide future improvements in patient care, Michael Zaretsky, MD, collaborates with the North American Fetal Therapy Network (NAFTN) in managing a national registry of the complications and outcomes of monochorionic twin pregnancies.

Optimizing the health and delivery of babies with congenital heart disease (CHD)

Our work places us at the forefront of fetal cardiology and makes us leaders in caring for new lives. The Colorado Fetal Care Center team completed the first-ever Ex Utero Intrapartum Treatment (EXIT) to ventricular pacing procedure and continues to lead in innovative ways:

• We are pioneering new techniques in regenerative medicine, including engineering a heart patch made of an infant's own tissue to improve outcomes for babies with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Using amniotic fluid collected at delivery, our team aims to create beating heart cells that can be used for future surgical repairs.
• In the Heart Sounds at Home clinical trial, our researchers were the first to initiate fetal home doppler monitoring in the detection of fetal heart block for positive anti-SSA mothers.
• Bettina Cuneo, MD, participated in a multicenter study aiming to increase parental education and improve transparency between clinical teams and parents. Using a series of questions developed by the Pediatric Congenital Heart Association (PCHA), we provide institution-specific answers for families regarding pediatric cardiac intervention outcomes, as well as short- and long-term expectations for neonates and infants with CHD.

Pioneering new technologies and treatments for babies with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)

Our Colorado Fetal Care Center is a national referral site for CDH, as the neonates with CDH who are discharged from our NICU have some of the best outcomes in the nation.

• Our fetal surgeons conducted a clinical trial to improve lung growth for fetuses with CDH using fetoscopic tracheal balloon occlusion (FETO). We consistently see improved outcomes for patients with severe left-sided CDH.
• In a multi-center study, our researchers standardized prenatal assessment of risk-stratification for fetuses with CDH.

Maternal fetal medicine professional education videos

In these short videos, our experts offer insights into the advanced treatments and specialized clinical care they provide at our hospital.

What our maternal and fetal medicine research means for babies and expecting moms managing high-risk pregnancies

Our research at the Colorado Fetal Care Center aims to improve outcomes for babies with the highest-risk and rare fetal conditions, as well as ensuring mothers experience fewer complications from fetal therapies, labor and delivery.

At the heart of our research is a focus on each child's long-term quality of life, which influences everything we do and results in:

• A better standard of living for our patients – babies, twins, moms and multiples
• Improved care for the fetus
• More innovative treatment options
• Fewer complications for mothers from fetal therapies, labor and delivery

Our research means that here, you'll find expertise for the rarest conditions, and a multidisciplinary team dedicated to improving the outlook for our unborn patients and the mothers who carry them.

Clinical trials for fetal care

Our providers are committed to conducting clinical trials to advance fetal care, develop new protocols and benefit babies and families in our care, and across the globe. We are always running trials and continue to enroll a high number of participants to improve care for TTTS, fetal heart conditions, CDH, spina bifida and many other conditions.

If you’re interested in enrolling a patient in one of our trials or getting more information, please call us at 720-777-4463 and ask to speak with one of our research coordinators.

Bringing together the brightest minds to innovate HLHS treatments

As one of only five centers in the country – and the only center in the region – participating in Mayo Clinic's HLHS Consortium, we are leading the way to find solutions for patients with HLHS. Through our Fetal Cardiology Program, pregnant women with a fetal HLHS diagnosis have the opportunity to participate in groundbreaking clinical trials studying the use of cell-based regenerative therapy to transform the lives of their children born with HLHS.

Reducing the complications of mothers managing high-risk pregnancies

Our fetal surgery team constantly strives to reduce complications; following the groundbreaking Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS), our fetal surgeons developed a modified hysterotomy closure technique that may reduce obstetric morbidity associated with prenatal MMC repair and other open fetal surgeries.

Contact the Colorado Fetal Care Center at 1-720-777-4463 or fetalcare@childrenscolorado.org.