Termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly: evaluation of single centre results

Abstract

Aims: To assess the indications of termination of pregnancies (TOP) for fetal anomaly beyond 22 weeks of gestation. Methods: It is a retrospective study conducted at Eskişehir City Hospital between January 2021 and December 2023. Our hospital which It serves as a tertiary referral center in the city. During the research period, 4143 births took place, and 495 women were treated in our high-risk unit. During the study period, 34 women underwent elective TOP at at least 22 weeks’ gestation. Routine 18–20-week anomaly screening was recommended for all pregnant women. Results: The sonographic findings revealed the presence of 15 cases of central nervous system malformation, 4 cases of micromelia and thorax hypoplasia, 1 case of diafragma hernia, 3 case of early IUGG, 2 cases of cardiac anomaly, 2 cases of neural tube defect, 3 cases of isolated thorax hypoplasia, 1 case of scoliosis, 1 case of renal agenesis, 1 case of thick nuchal fold, 1 case of partial corpus collosum agenesis. Among 34 cases, there were 1 case of mosaic trisomy 21, case of trisomy 21, 1 case of trisomy 1, 3 cases of trisomy 13, 2 cases of trisomy 18. Array analysis revealed a case of 14 p deletion, 1 case of 16 p 11.2 deletion, 1 case of 1p36 deletion. In all study population 5 cases underwent cesarean delivery. Majority of the terminations were achieved by misoprostol or cervical balloon application. Conclusion: In conclusion, although late termination of pregnancy by fetocide procedure seems to be safe, earlier detection of fetal structural and chromosomal anomalies is mandatory.

Keywords

• Fetosid
• termination of pregnancy
• fetal anomaly

Ethical Statement

This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration and approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee (Approval no:2023-62; date: 22/11/2023). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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