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Early amniocentesis: effect of removing a reduced volume of amniotic fluid on pregnancy outcome
Author(s) -
Tharmaratnam S.,
Sadek S.,
Steele E. K.,
Harper M. A.,
Stewart F. J.,
Nevin J.,
Nevin N. C.,
Dornan J. C.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0223(199808)18:8<773::aid-pd350>3.0.co;2-w
Subject(s) - amniocentesis , amniotic fluid , medicine , obstetrics , miscarriage , incidence (geometry) , pregnancy , second trimester , fetus , polyhydramnios , gynecology , prenatal diagnosis , biology , genetics , physics , optics
In mid‐trimester amniocentesis (MTA), 12–15 ml of amniotic fluid is aspirated for cytogenetic analysis. When a similar volume of amniotic fluid is removed by early amniocentesis (EA), it represents a significant proportion of the total amniotic fluid volume in the first trimester. The fluid depletion, which may persist for 7 to 10 days, is considered to impair development of fetal lungs and extremities and, possibly, contribute towards procedure‐related congenital abnormalities and miscarriages. By only removing 7 ml of amniotic fluid, we have demonstrated a total miscarriage rate (3·8 per cent) comparable with previous large studies (Table V), a low incidence of respiratory difficulties at birth (2·7 per cent) and a low incidence of fixed flexion deformities (1·6 per cent), at the expense of a small increase in the incidence of culture failure (2·2 per cent). © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.