[fetal therapy]

Dr. Ruben Quintero, M.D., one-time director of fetal therapy at St. Joseph's Women's Hospital, world renowned fetal surgeon and now Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at USF, is lending hope to mother's carrying twins that are suffering from Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). TTTS is a condition in which twins who share a placenta do not share the blood supply evenly, therefore stunting the growth of one of the babies.

Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome is a condition that in the past most often lead to death of one or both of the fetuses if presenting itself before life was viable outside the womb. Dr. Quintero is one of a handful of doctors in the entire United States who performs the life-saving surgery that treats TTTS called Operative Fetoscopic Laser Therapy (many of the other doctors who perform the surgery nationally have been trained by him). The surgery is amazingly performed in utero and can correct all of the blood flow abnormalities; a healthy, full-term pregnancy and subsquent birth can then be achieved.

We learned of Dr. Ruben Quintero actually not through word of mouth, as is the case with many of our tid-bits, but instead through the nationally televised Discovery Health Station on cable television. In one of their hour long medical shows, this one titled Twins in Peril, Dr. Quintero was helping pregnant patients both locally and those that have flown in from all over the country fight TTTS. How lucky are we to have this doctor here in the Bay area? If you have a chance to watch the program, it's truly awe inspiring. To contact Dr. Quintero, visit his homepage through USF, http://health.usf.edu/medicine/obgyn/facstaf/quintero.htm