First name
M
Middle name
P
Last name
Johnson

Title

Physician views regarding the benefits and burdens of prenatal surgery for myelomeningocele.

Year of Publication

2017

Date Published

2017 Jun 15

ISSN Number

1476-5543

Abstract

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>Examine how pediatric and obstetrical subspecialists view benefits and burdens of prenatal myelomeningocele (MMC) closure.</p>

<p><strong>STUDY DESIGN: </strong>Mail survey of 1200 neonatologists, pediatric surgeons and maternal-fetal medicine specialists (MFMs).</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Of 1176 eligible physicians, 670 (57%) responded. Most respondents disagreed (68%, 11% strongly) that open fetal surgery places an unacceptable burden on women and their families. Most agreed (65%, 10% strongly) that denying the benefits of open maternal-fetal surgery is unfair to the future child. Most (94%) would recommend prenatal fetoscopic over open or postnatal MMC closure for a hypothetical fetoscopic technique that had similar shunt rates (40%) but decreased maternal morbidity. When the hypothetical shunt rate for fetoscopy was increased to 60%, physicians were split (49% fetoscopy versus 45% open). Views about burdens and fairness correlated with the likelihood of recommending postnatal or fetoscopic over open closure.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Individual and specialty-specific values may influence recommendations about prenatal surgery.Journal of Perinatology advance online publication, 15 June 2017; doi:10.1038/jp.2017.75.</p>

DOI

10.1038/jp.2017.75

Alternate Title

J Perinatol

PMID

28617430

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