Research

Mayo Clinic is a pioneer in fetal surgery advances, allowing for earlier intervention when birth defects are diagnosed.

A key example is a clinical trial for prenatal surgery to promote lung growth before babies are born. These fetuses have a life-threatening disorder called pulmonary hypoplasia. This condition is caused by a congenital diaphragmatic hernia and fetal lungs are too small for babies to breathe on their own. The goal is to develop regenerative approaches to improve lung development and outcomes.

Mayo experts continue to actively study how to lower the risks of fetal surgery, improve surgical approaches and improve outcomes for both mothers and children.

Publications

See a list of publications about fetal surgery by Mayo Clinic authors on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.