Open AccessThe clinical significance of blood‐contaminated midtrimester amniocentesis
Author(s) -
Ron M.,
Cohen T.,
Yaffe H.,
Beyth Y.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.3109/00016348209156950
Subject(s) - medicine , amniocentesis , amniotic fluid , obstetrics , pregnancy , fetus , gynecology , abortion , bloody , prenatal diagnosis , surgery , genetics , biology
. In 706 midtrimester amniocenteses, 180 (25.5%) samples yielded blood‐stained amniotic fluid (macroscopically and microscopically), 152 (21.5%) contained maternal blood, 28 (3.9%) fetal blood and 8 samples contained both maternal and fetal blood. In the 180 cases of bloody midtrimester amniocentesis, the abortion rate was 6.6% when maternal blood was found and 14.3% when fetal blood was aspirated, compared with 1.7% in controls. The amount of blood drawn did not alter pregnancy outcome. The percentage of bloody amniotic fluid in amniocenteses performed before the 16th week of pregnancy was much higher (36.7%) than during and after the 16th week of pregnancy (22%). Midtrimester amniocentesis should therefore be avoided before the 16th week of pregnancy.