IMFH | Maternal-Fetal Services | Physician Services | Genetics
IMFH’s team of geneticists, perinatologists (maternal-fetal specialists), genetic counselors and nurses provides complete prenatal diagnostic evaluations and counseling for families at risk for genetic disorders and birth defects. This program offers some of the most sophisticated diagnostic studies available, including high-resolution fetal ultrasound, fetal echocardiography, fetal MRI and amniocentesis.
Mothers whose unborn babies are identified as being at increased risk through the State of California's Expanded Alpha Feto-Protein (XAFP) Screening Program are often referred to IMFH’s genetics team, as are mothers/babies with a family history of a genetic disorder, abnormal ultrasound findings, advanced maternal age and prenatal exposure to drugs or medications.
IMFH’s genetics team offers babies identified with complex genetic diseases a spectrum of diagnosis, treatment and laboratory services based on the most recent scientific advances. The team educates family members about the condition and prognosis, available therapies, and the likelihood another pregnancy may produce a child with a similar condition.
There are a large number of inherited genetic diseases (like sickle cell anemia) that can now be accurately diagnosed early in fetal life by examining fetal DNA obtained by chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. In most cases, the testing is done because the disease has been identified to run in the family.
Some inherited genetic diseases are treatable with stem cells. These diseases fall into the categories of:
- Hemoglobinopathies
- Immunodeficiency diseases
- Inborn errors of metabolism
- Hematopoietic diseases
