Trisomy 18

I have just been diagnosed with a 20 week fetus carrying Trisomy 18.  Is it possible that I can grow her sisters cells in a laboratory about 5 billion of them and inject them into her perdiodically to give her a chance at a healthy life.
I know they are doing this to treat skin cancer but what about genetic disorders.  Would her sisters or brothers cells be cmpatible with hers and delay some of the problems with the syndrome?

[Yao Sun, MD, PhD]

Your physician may have already explained that the diagnosis of Trisomy 18 means the fetus has 3 "copies" of chromosome 18 in each and every cell of his/her body.  Normally, each cell only has 2 copies (1 each from the mother and father) of the 23 different chromosomes which carry all of our genetic information.

The chromosomes determine how the fetus develops from the very beginning.  Unfortunately, attempting to donate cells from other people will not change the course of development or the final outcome.  The field of Medicine does not currently have the technology to affect the number of chromosomes in each cell.

You may want to consult with your physician about a referral to a Genetic Counselor.  The Genetic Counselor can help you understand the disease and also help determine the risk for any future pregnancies.

[Nassime]

Thank you, so if the cells were injected into the baby nothing would happen?  We saw a genetic counselor and the two doctors.  Thank you, I was just hoping some kind of reserach would be able to help my little baby.

[Yao Sun, MD, PhD]

Injecting cells from another person into the fetus will not change how a fetus with Trisomy 18 develops.  Unfortunately, there is no research right now that will treat this problem.

[Nassime]

Thank you, please keep me in mind if you hear of any new research or trails.