Team counseling in prenatal evaluation: the partnership of the radiologist and genetic counselor

Abstract

Fetal medicine programs within children's hospitals have been developed to ensure access to pediatric specialists across multiple disciplines. The cases that present to these programs are usually complex and require involvement of a multidisciplinary care team. Although some providers on the team limit their focus to their pediatric specialty when counseling patients, the radiologist and genetic counselor have a distinct perspective allowing them to take the larger picture into account in the evaluation of the fetus. As first responders, they come together to review images and identify which consultants are most appropriate to counsel the families, and they can help guide patient discussions. In this paper we demonstrate how the combined expertise of the genetic counselor and pediatric radiologist can facilitate more accurate diagnoses and guide the appropriate management of complex fetal anomalies.

Keywords: Anomalies; Communication; Counseling; Fetus; Genetics; Multidisciplinary team; Prenatal diagnosis.