The founder and director of CHOP's Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, Dr. Adzick is an innovator in the field of fetal medicine, pursuing groundbreaking prenatal treatment for debilitating birth defects. He led the NIH-funded "Management of Myelomeningocele Study" (MOMS) at CHOP, a breakthrough research program that showed fetal surgery for spina bifida results in significantly improved outcomes.
Dr. Flake is a general pediatric surgeon with a clinical and research focus on prenatal treatment ranging from the fetal surgical repair of anatomic anomalies to prenatal stem cell and gene therapy. He has extensive experience in developing rodent, canine, and sheep models for in utero transplantation and for investigating fetal surgery for anatomic malformations.
Fetal spina bifida surgery to repair myelomeningocele is a remarkable and intricate procedure performed before birth. If untreated, spinal cord damage from amniotic fluid exposure is progressive during gestation.
Reporting on 100 recent cases of fetal surgery for spina bifida, specialists from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia achieved results similar to those in a landmark clinical trial that established a new standard of care for prenatal repair of this birth defect.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is proud to announce the birth of its 1,000 fetal surgery patient. Audrey Rose Oberio was born May 28 to Jackie and Gideon Oberio. The Oberios traveled to CHOP from Maryland so Audrey could be treated for myelomeningocele, the most severe form of spina bifida, at Children’s Hospital’s Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment. When she was born, Audrey Rose weighed 5 pounds, 8 ounces, and had only a scar where her doctors had operated.
