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Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Innovative Care
Ensures the Best for Mom and Baby
hen 30-year-old Andrea
Sult went in for a routine
exam in March 2010, she
wasn’t expecting anything out of
the ordinary — but it turned out
she was expecting.
It wouldn’t be a straightforward
pregnancy. The Bayville resident had
been diagnosed with Graves’ disease,
W
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Andrea Sult is thankful for the close observation she
received from the experts at Jersey Shore’s Perinatal
Institute throughout her complex pregnancy. It
helped ensure little Ava’s healthy birth and life.
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an autoimmune disorder that causes
her thyroid gland to produce too many
hormones, just a few months earlier.
The endocrinologist treating
Andrea for Graves’ disease referred
her to Joseph Canterino, M.D., a
high-risk obstetrician at the Perinatal
Institute at Jersey Shore University
Medical Center. The Perinatal
Institute provides 24-hour care for
complex pregnancies, like Andrea’s.
Throughout her pregnancy, Andrea
was monitored closely. During her
31-week high-resolution ultrasound,
Myriam Mondestin-Sorrentino, M.D., a
physician at the Institute, discovered
the baby had developed a goiter, or
enlargement of the thyroid gland.
Dr. Canterino performed a
complicated procedure called
cordocentesis, in which he took a
sample of blood from the umbilical
cord to check the fetal thyroid levels.
“We knew that we could determine
if the baby’s thyroid levels were high
or low and optimize her treatment
in utero,” explains Dr. Canterino.
The results showed the baby
had hypothyroidism, or low thyroid
levels. Dr. Canterino and the
team at the Perinatal Institute
determined the best course
of treatment was weekly
intra-amniotic injections of
thyroid hormone to treat
the baby and normalize
the thyroid levels.
But that wasn’t
the end of the
difficulties with
Andrea’s pregnancy.
At 36 weeks, her
Joseph C. Canterino, M.D.
Board certified in
Obstetrics/Gynecology and
Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Neptune • 732-776-4755
Lawrence G. Van Horn, M.D.
Board certified in
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Wall • 732-280-8088
readings showed she was on the
verge of developing thyroid storm,
a life-threatening condition that can
lead to a stroke or heart attack. She
met with Danielle Lann, M.D., an
endocrinologist at Jersey Shore, who
treated her with medications and got
her thyroid levels back on track.
Once stabilized, Andrea’s OB/GYN,
Lawrence Van Horn, M.D., induced
her, but the baby’s heart rate began
to drop. “I worked to resuscitate the
baby,” says Dr. Van Horn. “When that
didn’t work, I decided to perform a
Cesarean section.”
After delivery, Andrea spent
24 hours in the Intensive Care Unit
(ICU) for monitoring. Ava Sophia,
her new daughter, spent five days in
the Neonatal ICU for observation.
The child showed no signs of a fetal
goiter at birth, proving the amniotic
injections had done their job.
“It was an incredibly scary situation,
but I wouldn’t go anywhere else,”
says Andrea. “Everyone was so
wonderful to us at Jersey Shore.” z
— Gabriella Heizler
Meet the Doctors Who Are Part of the
Meridian Momtourage
For a complete listing of our OB/GYNs, visit
www.MeridianMomtourage.com, our Web site for local
moms and moms-to-be, and click on “Meet Our Doctors.”