This episode is dedicated to the late Dr. Julian De Lia whom we lost in November 2022. Dr. De Lia was truly one of the greatest fetal surgery pioneers, particularly in the TTTS.
Welcome back to Twins R Us! This week we’re going to talk about the history of twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) and the history of treatment for the disease.
Dr. Moise will take us through the following topics in this episode:
- The discovery of pathophysiology of TTTS
- Idea of the ‘Third Circulation’
- Berniske’s proposed phenotype
- Placental injection studies
- The fetal loss rate of TTTS without treatment
- Early treatment attempts
- Weekly amnioreductions
- Septostomy trial
- The early use of laser therapy to treat TTTS in-utero during the early 1908s by DeVore and De Lia
- Laser technique variation and development by country
- The development of the Quintero Staging system
- Initial trials and implementation of evidence-based laser therapy for TTTS
- Karl Storz endoscopy develops fetoscopes for laser surgery under HDE in the US
- Discussions and support from national & international societies
- Major changes in laser techniques since its initial introduction into fetal surgery
