LATE TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY FOR FETAL ANOMALY

Extract

Rapid and constant progress in prenatal diagnosis has made screening and diagnosis for fetal aneuploidy available in the first and early second trimester. However, relatively late diagnosis of severe fetal conditions has also increased due to better performance of routine second trimester ultrasound examination together with a systematic approach to fetal evaluation and determination of prognostic factors with increasing gestation. Such situations include fetal infections, brain abnormalities, and several osteochondrodysplasias. Prognostic uncertainty is often weighed against ethical and legal issues in the decision making process, leading to either early termination of a potentially normal fetus or a late termination of a fetus more severely affected with better definition of overall prognosis. Our aim is to review the current literature with regard to technique and potential complications of late terminations of pregnancy.