Heart & Vascular News

The Fetal Care Center has now been accepted into the North American Fetal Therapy Network (NAFTNet), a group of 28 medical centers in the United States and Canada that perform advanced in-utero fetal therapeutic procedures.

Soon after Mario Schootman, PhD, an epidemiologist, came to Washington University in 1999, he reviewed data from the Missouri Cancer Registry and noticed a disturbing trend among patients with breast cancer:  from 1996 to 1998, women who were 50 and older were twice as likely to have late-stage breast cancer if they lived in certain ZIP codes in the northeastern part of St. Louis.

Six years ago at age 32, Becky Lorts found a lump in her left breast. She opted to fight her cancer with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to remove both breasts, and she came out clear.

Because cancer runs in her family, 54-year-old Lisa Facer had always been diligent about getting annual mammograms. But in 2006, she missed her mammogram as she and her sister cared for her dying mother in Hawaii. In 2007, the company where she was a corporate bond trader was in turmoil — so she missed her mammogram again. In May 2008, Facer lost her job. So with time on her hands, she finally went for a mammogram. On D-Day – June 6 – she got the news she dreaded: breast cancer.

A combination of medical expertise, technology and geography will converge as Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine launch in April a new “Fetal Care Center” for the care and management of high-risk mothers and births.