Cnrstn 09.10 - Winthrop University Hospital

Summer/Fall • 2010Cutting-edge Fetal Surgery ProgramRestores a Mother’s Hope(continued from cover)so that the patient’s pregnancy can continuewith better outcomes,” said Dr.Chavez, who specializes in high riskpregnancies, ultrasound diagnosis,ultrasound-guided procedures, and fetaltherapy, treatment and surgery.Understanding the need for immediateintervention, Mrs. Elliott beganIVIG therapy during the 10th week ofher pregnancy. This intravenous treatmentutilizes donor blood whichprovides human-derived antibodies toprevent the mother’s immune systemfrom recognizing a fetus as foreign andattacking it. The first treatment wasadministered at Winthrop and was asuccess; subsequent treatments, whichaveraged six hours in duration, followedon a weekly basis in Mrs. Elliott’s homeuntil approximately the sixth month ofher pregnancy.At 27 weeks, Mrs. Elliott began thesecond phase of treatment – a series ofin-utero blood transfusions. Thisadvanced technique uses ultrasoundguided technology to replace fetal redblood cells that are being destroyed bythe mother’s immune system. AfterMrs. Elliott was administered a medicationthat would temporarily immobilizeher baby, Dr. Chavez used ultrasoundtechnology to guide a needle into thebaby’s umbilical cord to transfuse aconcentrated amount of healthy blood.“Fetal umbilical cord transfusionallows for accurate measurements offetal blood count and exact amountsof blood to be delivered to the baby,”said Dr. Chavez.Each transfusion was performedin the Hospital’s Labor & DeliveryOperating Room with the support ofa specially trained team of doctors,nurses and anesthesiologists.Also instrumental to Mrs. Elliott’scourse of treatment was the dedicatedefforts of Winthrop’s Blood Bank Team,Among the members of Maria Elliott and Elijah’s care team atWinthrop were (l.-r.) Jane Chiusano, MT(ASCP), Blood BankSupervisor; CJ Catalano, RN, MSN, Nurse Manager, Labor & Delivery;Martin Chavez, MD, Chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Director of the Fetal Therapyand Surgery Program; Peyman Zandieh, MD;Anthony Vintzileos, MD, Chairman of theDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology;and Nazeeh Hanna, MD, Chief of theDivision of Neonatal Medicine.who worked diligentlyto ensure theavailability and processingof donorblood and plateletsnecessary for Mrs.Elliott’s in-uterotransfusions.“We needed aconsistent supply ofO Rh-negative bloodand AB negativeplatelets – therarest types ofblood andplatelets,”said JaneChiusano,MT (ASCP),Winthrop’sBlood BankSupervisor.“Thanks to theefforts of the LongIsland Blood Services and all of thecommunity members who stepped upto donate, we were able to meet thisvital need.”What’s more, members of theBlood Bank Team received specializedtraining in order to prepare specifiedvolumes of blood needed for each inuterotransfusion.“It was truly remarkable to witnessmultiple departments workingtogether to achieve one common goal– helping this mother and baby,” saidMs. Chiusano.On July 26, 2009, Mrs. Elliotthappily welcomed Elijah into theworld, delivered by Dr. Zandieh, whoco-managed her care throughout theentire pregnancy.Elijah’s care continued inWinthrop’s Neonatal Intensive CareUnit (NICU), where he was monitoredby an outstanding team of neonatologistsand nurses for several daysbefore going home with his mom anddad. Though he required some followuptreatment, today, Elijah is a vibrant14-month-old who is making fullprogress thanks to the extraordinarycare that he received at Winthrop.“When I first found out I was pregnant,I felt hopeless,” said Mrs. Elliott.“Today, I am so thankful to have comeacross such a wonderful team of specialistsat Winthrop, who have trulyrestored my confidence in healthcare.”Winthrop-University Hospitaloffers a full range of comprehensiveobstetric and gynecological services.Winthrop is a New York State RegionalPerinatal Center – a prestigious designationthat recognizes the Hospital’scommitment to delivering the highestlevel of obstetrical and perinatal care.For more information aboutobstetrical and gynecological servicesat Winthrop, call 1-866-WINTHROP. ■*patient’s name has beenchanged to respect her privacy.16 Cornerstone