ArticleFacts, views & vision in ObGyn2011
The fetal patient -- ethical aspects of fetal therapy.
Article in Facts, views & vision in ObGyn, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bridging disciplinary siloes: a scoping review on the inclusion and exclusion of pregnant and lactating populations in clinical research.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Prenatal gene editing for neurodevelopmental diseases: Ethical considerations.American journal of human genetics · 2025Review
- Reflections upon the intrauterine repair of myelomeningocele.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2024Review
- Precarious hope: Ethical considerations for offering experimental fetal therapies outside of research after initial studies in humans.Prenatal diagnosis · 2024Article
- Initial heritable genome editing: mapping a responsible pathway from basic research to the clinic.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2023Article
- A new ethical framework to determine acceptable risks in fetal therapy trials.Prenatal diagnosis · 2022Review
- A New Ethical Framework for Assessing the Unique Challenges of Fetal Therapy Trials.The American journal of bioethics : AJOB · 2022Article
- Ethical, Translational, and Legal Issues Surrounding the Novel Adoption of Ectogestative Technologies.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2022Review
- Fetal therapy for congenital hydrocephalus-where we came from and where we are going.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2020Article
- A study to assess knowledge and acceptability of foetal surgery for spina bifida amongst healthcare professionals in the UK.Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology : the journal of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology · 2020Article
- Fetal surgery for open spina bifida.The obstetrician & gynaecologist : the journal for continuing professional development from the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists · 2019Review
- Maternal-fetal surgery for myelomeningocele: some thoughts on ethical, legal, and psychological issues in a Western European situation.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2017Article
- Fetal therapy for Down syndrome: an ethical exploration.Prenatal diagnosis · 2017Article
- Transdisciplinary fetal-neonatal neurology training integrates women's and children's health with life-course brain capital strategies: a narrative review.Frontiers in neurologyReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The pregnant patient is a vulnerable subject, and even more so when a serious fetal condition is diagnosed. (Invasive) fetal therapy should only be offered when there is a good chance that the life of the fetus will be saved, or irreversible damage by the disease or disability is prevented. Following diagnosis of a potentially treatable condition, the patient needs to be referred to a center with sufficient expertise in diagnosis and all therapeutic options. Preferences of the physician towards one or another antenatal intervention is not at stake prior to that moment. When fetal therapy is justified--, it should be offered with full respect for maternal choice and individual assessment and perception of potential-- risks, and should be at the location where there is sufficient expertise. For therapies of unproven benefit, the absence of evidence must be disclosed, and therapy should only be undertaken with full voluntary consent of the mother. These ought to be undertaken within well designed and approved trials and only by experts in the treatment modality. Potential risks and eventual morbidities in case of therapeutic failure should be part of the counselling, neither-- should fetal therapy be presented as an alternative to termination of pregnancy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
24753868PMC3991449What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.