Causes of intrauterine fetal death are changing in recent years
-
Hiroko Takita
,
Masamitsu Nakamura
Abstract
Objective:
To investigate, how causes of intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) have changed in recent years with the advancement of prenatal diagnosis at a single perinatal center in Japan.
Methods:
Medical records were retrospectively reviewed for all cases of IUFDs that occurred between 2001 and 2014. The most commonly associated causes of fetal deaths were compared between 2001–2007 and 2008–2014.
Results:
The number of IUFD after 20 weeks’ gestation/all deliveries in our center was 38/6878 cases (0.53%) in 2001–2007 and 35/7326 (0.48%) in 2008–2014. The leading cause of IUFD in 2001–2007 was fetal abnormalities (43.2%), the prevalence of which was only 8.6% in 2008–2014 (P<0.01). Meanwhile, the prevalence of umbilical cord abnormalities was relatively increased from 30.0% in 2001–2007 to 54.5% in 2008–2014 (P=0.06). In 2001–2007, chromosomal abnormalities were frequently observed (56% of IUFDs due to fetal abnormalities). Hyper-coiled cord (HCC) and umbilical ring constrictions were the most frequent cause of IUFD in both periods. The relatively decreased prevalence of IUFD due to velamentous cord insertion and umbilical cord entanglement, HCC and umbilical cord constriction was increased.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of IUFD due to fetal abnormalities was reduced, but IUFD associated with umbilical cord abnormalities tended to increase relatively.
Author’s statement
Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Material and methods: Informed consent: Informed consent has been obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Ethical approval: The research related to human subject use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, and institutional policies, and is in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration, and has been approved by the authors’ institutional review board or equivalent committee.
Contribution to authorship: Takita H., Hasegawa J. and Nakamura M. designed the research. All the authors collected the data. Takita H., Hasegawa J. and Arakaki T. analyzed and interpreted the data. Takita H., Hasegawa J. and Sekizawa A. drafted the manuscript. Takita H. and Hasegawa J. performed the statistical analyses.
Funding: None.
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©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review article
- The assessment of labor: a brief history
- Original articles – Obstetrics
- The combined exposure to intra-amniotic inflammation and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome increases the risk of intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm neonates
- Uterine artery Doppler pulsatility index at 11–38 weeks in ICSI pregnancies with egg donation
- Violence before pregnancy and the risk of violence during pregnancy
- Cancer during pregnancy – clinical characteristics, treatment outcomes and prognosis for mothers and infants
- The effect of attending a prenatal childbirth preparedness course on labor duration and outcomes
- Serum fibrinogen levels could be an index of successful use of balloon tamponade in postpartum hemorrhage
- Impact factors on cervical dilation rates in the first stage of labor
- Feasibility and acceptability of text messaging to support antenatal healthcare in Iraqi pregnant women: a pilot study
- Clinical characteristics and outcome of twin pregnancies complicated by single intrauterine death
- Utility of routine urine CMV PCR and total serum IgM testing of small for gestational age infants: a single center review
- The association between pre-pregnancy obesity and screening results of depression for all trimesters of pregnancy, postpartum and 1 year after birth: a cohort study
- Original articles – Fetus
- Causes of intrauterine fetal death are changing in recent years
- Original articles – Newborn
- Proactive approach at the limits of viability improves the short-term outcome of neonates born after 23 weeks’ gestation
- Letter to the Editor
- Exact days of gestation necessary for infants at borderline viability: reply to Proactive approach at the limits of viability improves the short-term outcome of neonates born after 23weeks’ gestation. P. Šimják, J. Smíšek, M. Koucký, T. Lamberská, R. Plavka and Z. Hájek. J Perinat Med 2017
