The University of California at San Francisco Fetal Treatment Center: A Personal Perspective

Abstract

Today, the Fetal Treatment Center at the University of California, San Francisco is premier not only for its innovative and cutting-edge developments in fetal diagnosis and therapy, but in its delivery of excellent clinical care to patients from within and outside the United States. Indeed it is recognized as the pioneering institution for fetal surgery. But, the road to success and international recognition has been torturous and often tumultuous. From a personal perspective, Dr. Michael Harrison recounts the center’s 25-year history – an evolution that has seen a ‘California fault zone’ become an epicenter of excellence for fetal therapy. Along the way, Dr. Harrison recalls the best and worst of times in the center’s history particularly as they relate to fetal surgery, recalls the initial principal payers and subsequent cadre of professionals responsible for developing the center and providing the medical and surgical expertise that is the hallmark of the UCSF Fetal Treatment Center, provides a subjective assessment, a ‘report card’, of where they stand in fetal therapy today, and finally, gives well-deserved credit to the many talented research fellows, whom he calls the ‘heart and soul’ of the enterprise, whose ‘fingerprints’ are borne on all the advances in fetal treatment.