From non-invasive to invasive fetal therapy: A comprehensive review and current update

Trends in research related to fetal therapy from 2012 to 2022: a bibliometric analysis

Background

The development of prenatal diagnosis technology allows prompt detection of severe fetal diseases. To address adverse factors that threaten fetal survival, fetal therapy came into existence, which aims to preserve the function after birth to a higher degree and improve the quality of life.

Objective

To conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of studies on fetal therapy in the past decade and explore the research trends and hotspots in this field.

Methods

We conducted a systematic search on the Web of Science Core Collection to retrieve studies related to fetal therapy published from 2012 to 2022. VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to analyze the key features of studies, including annual output, countries/regions, institutions, authors, references, research hotspots, and frontiers.

Results

A total of 9,715 articles were included after eliminating duplicates. The annual distribution of the number of articles showed that the number of articles published in fetal therapy had increased in the past decade. Countries and institutions showed that fetal therapy is more mature in the United States. Author analysis showed the core investigators in the field. Keyword analysis showed the clustering and emergence frequency, which helped summarize the research results and frontier hotspots in this field. The cocited references were sorted out to determine the literature with a high ranking of fetal therapy in recent years, and the research trend in recent years was analyzed.

Conclusions

This study reveals that countries, institutions, and researchers should promote wider cooperation and establish multicenter research cooperation in fetal therapy research. Moreover, fetal therapy has been gradually explored from traditional surgical treatment to gene therapy and stem cell therapy. In recent years, fetoscopic laser surgery, guideline, and magnetic resonance imaging have become the research hotspots in the field.

The use and role of telemedicine in maternal fetal medicine around the world: an up-to-date

Purpose

The aim of this narrative review is to sumarize data about the use and role of telemedicine in maternal fetal medicine (MFM).

Methods

We searched pubmed and scopus to find articles about telemedicine in MFM by using the terms telmedicine or telehealth and maternal fetal medicine.

Results

Telehealth has been widely used for several medical specialties. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, telehealth has gained investment and further research. Even though telemedicine in MFM has not been frequently applied, from 2020 onwards it has increased in both implementation and acceptance worldwide. The need to screen the patients in overloaded centers in a pandemic scenario required telemedicine in MFM, which has exhibited consistently good results concerning health and budget. The aim of this study was to review the telehealth programs and research focused on MFM around the world. Few studies have been applied to MFM and even fewer in developing and undeveloped countries. The majority of studies were concentrated in the USA and in Europe.

Conclusion

Further research is needed, especially in non-developed countries, to comprehend the potential role of telemedicine in MFM for improving the life quality of the patients, health professionals, and to be cost-efficient.