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Cardiocentesis: an alternative method of fetal blood sampling for the prenatal diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies.

1992; National Institutes of Health; Volume: 79; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

A I Antsaklis, N E Papantoniou, Spryros A. Mesogitis, P T Koutra, Anthony M. Vintzileos, D I Aravantinos,

Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies

One hundred fifty-eight cases are reported of fetal cardiocentesis during the second trimester for the prenatal diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies. In all cases, fetal blood sampling by funipuncture was technically impossible or unsuccessful. There were nine fetal deaths possibly related to the procedure, for a total fetal loss rate of 6.5%. If one fetal loss that occurred 46 days after the procedure is excluded, the total procedure-related fetal loss rate is 5.6%. No cases of maternal chorioamnionitis, fetal cardiac trauma, or hemopericardium were encountered among the living infants. We conclude that cardiocentesis should be offered in highly selective cases when funipuncture is not technically feasible. In experienced hands, the procedure has a fetal loss rate of 6.5% with no morbidity among the survivors.