Tracing Fetal Circulation
Working within an operative field less than two centimeters square, Columbia investigators have succeeded in:—Creating surgical analogies of certain congenital anomalies,—Tracing fetal circulation.—Studies of placental transfer.All three procedures, performed on Rhesus monkeys, are essential entrances to an understanding of the normal and abnormal in human fetal life, says Albert A. Plentl, PhD, MD.Clinically, "the surgical technique and experimental surgery,... do not constitute the final aim... but the experience acquired will be of great help," adds Dr. Plentl, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology.Special equipment, as well as minimally traumatic procedures, have had to be worked out by the investigators, who also included J. Anthony Dede, MD, currently practicing in Princeton, N. J.A midline abdominal incision is normally used to approach the peritoneal cavity. The uterus is lifted out and the margins of the placentae (75% of the monkeys have