Endoscopic examination of the fetus in early pregnancy
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Pantaleo Greco
Abstract
Objective: To assess if fetal examination is feasible by endoscopy in the late first-early second trimester.
Setting: Tertiary referral center for high risk obstetrics and genetics.
Patients and Methods: Patients (total number 9) submitted to pregnancy termination for social reason (7) or for chromosomal abnormality (2) between 10 and 14 weeks of pregnancy. Visualisation of the foetus by a transabdominally introduced endoscope (19 gauge) under local anaesthesia. Step by step examination of the foetal contour and double check of the recordings by a senior Pathologist.
Results: Patients complained no serious discomfort. Visualisation was accomplished in all cases with ease and the images were judged satisfactory by the Pathologist. Fetal examination was found easier at 10–12 weeks of gestation rather than at 13–14 weeks.
Discussion: Endoscopy is a simple and well tolerated procedure, which enables precise visualization of external fetal anatomy as early as the first trimester of gestation. Therefore it can be proposed before surgical termination of pregnancy.
Copyright (c)2000 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
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Articles in the same Issue
- Inhaled nitric oxide in premature infants - a meta-analysis
- Fetal transverse cerebellar diameter in different ethnic groups
- Randomized trial of administration of prostaglandin E2 gel for induction of labor in the morning or the evening
- Fetal sciatic nerve growth is delayed following repeated maternal injections of corticosteroid in sheep
- Endoscopic examination of the fetus in early pregnancy
- The analysis of the complement activation product SC5 b-9 is applicable in neonates in spite of their profound C9 deficiency
- Perinatal factors and preterm delivery in an Irish obstetric population
- Relation between brain tissue pO2 and dopamine synthesis of basal ganglia - A 18FDOPA-PET study in newborn piglets
- Premature closure of foramen ovale and renal vein thrombosis in a stillborn twin homozygous for methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphism: A clinicopathologic case study
- Agenesis of the ductus venosus and its correlation to hydrops fetalis
