'Fetal tumors can be cured if diagnosed early'

Rabin Medical Center director-general: Cooperation between medical experts in Israel and abroad enabled installation of new imaging, diagnostic equipment.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
rabin center 88 (photo credit: )
rabin center 88
(photo credit: )
The Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva is starting an international data registry on fetal tumors such as neuroblastoma in an effort to improve treatment of the malignant condition in fetuses and newborns. Every month, about 300 abnormal findings from ultrasound scans of fetuses are reported - all of which require monitoring by experts during pregnancy and after birth. The data registry was announced Wednesday at a conference on women's health organized by Beilinson and GE Healthcare Israel. The two have established a program of strategic cooperation to increase awareness of such health issues around the country. Prof. Yisrael Meisner, head of obestetrical ultrasound at Beilinson's Helen Schneider Women's Hospital, said tumors such as neuroblastoma discovered in a fetus early enough can be fully cured. Prof. Wolfgang Holzgreve, head of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Basel in Switzerland, reported on a blood test that predicts the dangerous condition of preeclampsia (toxemia) during pregnancy long before it occurs. Holzgreve, one of the world's leading experts in his field, is researching prenatal diagnostic procedures using amniocentesis and chorionic villi sampling, stem cells and the retrieval of fetal cells and free fetal DNA from maternal blood. GE Healthcare Israel CEO Toby Bachar said his company, which has 45,000 workers worldwide and 400 in Israel, has joined with Beilinson to promote early diagnosis of health problems in women and their fetuses by developing innovative products and finding creative medical solutions. Rabin Medical Center director-general Prof. Eran Halpern said the strategic cooperation made possible the installation of new imaging and diagnostic equipment, including a PET/CT body systems scan and an angiography device for catheterization.