(1/83) Accuracy of prenatal echocardiographic diagnosis and prognosis of fetuses with conotruncal anomalies.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to determine the accuracy of the prenatal echocardiographic diagnosis and prognosis of fetuses with conotruncal anomalies. BACKGROUND: The accuracy of prenatal echocardiographic diagnoses of cardiac lesions has been reported, but no previous reports specifically address fetal conotruncal anomalies. METHODS: Medical records of 61 fetuses, in which a fetal diagnosis of a conotruncal anomaly was made, were reviewed. Disease entities included were tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), double outlet right ventricle (DORV), transposition of the great arteries (TGA), and truncus arteriosus (TA). RESULTS: Fetal diagnosis was established at a median of 24.5 weeks' gestation. Termination of pregnancy was chosen in 31% (19/61) of cases. Postnatal assessment of the diagnosis was not obtained in 12 cases. Excluding two sets of conjoined twins, accurate prenatal diagnosis including definition of the great artery orientation was achieved in 36 of 47 cases (77%). Seven of 17 fetuses with DORV anatomy, of which 6 were thought to have a subpulmonary ventricular septal defect (VSD), had incorrect prenatal assessment of the great artery relationships. One fetus thought to show features of TA had aortic atresia with VSD and normal-sized left ventricle. Of the 42 pregnancies that continued, 15 had major extracardiac malformations and/or chromosomal abnormalities of which one died in utero with trisomy-13 and TA. A further nine died within the neonatal period. Among the 27 fetuses without a documented chromosomal or major extracardiac anomaly, 13 (48%) died. Overall, the survival rate beyond 28 days of life was 52% (22/42). In contrast, 75% (6/8) of fetuses with TOF, excluding the absent pulmonary valve syndrome, survived. CONCLUSIONS: Conotruncal anomalies can be diagnosed by prenatal echocardiography with a high degree of accuracy. Defining the exact spatial relationship of the great arteries is problematic in some fetuses. The overall prognosis for fetuses with a conotruncal anomaly is poor, with the exception of uncomplicated TOF.  (+info)

(2/83) Prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion: a challenge to practice and policy.

Professionals should reexamine negative assumptions about the quality of life with prenatally detectable impairments and should reform clinical practice and public policy to improve informed decision making and genuine reproductive choice. Current data on children and families affected by disabilities indicate that disability does not preclude a satisfying life. Many problems attributed to the existence of a disability actually stem from inadequate social arrangements that public health professionals should work to change. This article assumes a pro-choice perspective but suggests that unreflective uses of prenatal testing could diminish, rather than expand, women's choices. This critique challenges the view of disability that lies behind the social endorsement of such testing and the conviction that women will or should end their pregnancies if they discover that the fetus has a disabling trait.  (+info)

(3/83) Prenatal diagnosis for detecting congenital malformations: acceptance among Israeli Arab women.

BACKGROUND: A high rate of consanguineous marriages exists within the Israeli Arab community, with approximately half occurring between first cousins. This contributes towards a high incidence of congenital malformations and autosomal recessive diseases, many of which are detectable at prenatal diagnosis. OBJECTIVES: To assess the levels of both awareness and acceptance regarding prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy among a group of Arab women in order to devise the optimal means of providing genetic counseling and general health services. METHODS: A total of 231 Arab women of childbearing age were interviewed 3 days postpartum to assess their knowledge of prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy, their willingness to undergo prenatal diagnosis, and their opinions on termination of pregnancy in the event of a severely affected fetus. RESULTS: Half the women believed that prenatal testing is not an effective (or accurate) tool for diagnosing an affected fetus. A quarter had poor knowledge on prenatal diagnosis, and a quarter believed that prenatal diagnosis does provide the correct diagnosis. Ninety-five percent said they would agree to undergo prenatal diagnosis; and in the event of a severely affected fetus, 36% said they would agree to a termination of pregnancy, 57% said they would not, and 7% were undecided. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for special intervention programs, with guidance by health professionals, geneticists and religious authorities, that will inform this population on the increased risk associated with consanguinity, stress the importance and effectiveness of prenatal testing to identify severe congenital malformations, and help them to accept prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy if indicated.  (+info)

(4/83) Psychological sequelae of elective abortion.

A mild, short, depressive and guilt ridden period following abortion is quite common, but a severe psychological reaction is rare. The indication for the abortion and the preabortal psychological state of the patient are the two most important factors. Almost all reported instances of postabortion psychoses have occurred in patients who had severe preabortal psychiatric problems. Women undergoing abortion for socioeconomic or psychosocial indications appear to be at minimal risk for long-term negative psychological sequelae. In contrast, women in whom abortion is carried out because of exposure to rubella and the risk of fetal malformation, maternal organic disease or the prenatal diagnosis of a genetically defective fetus are at greater risk and may need supportive psychotherapy.  (+info)

(5/83) Antenatal screening and its possible meaning from unborn baby's perspective.

In recent decades antenatal screening has become one of the most routine procedure of pregnancy-follow up and the subject of hot debate in bioethics circles. In this paper the rationale behind doing antenatal screening and the actual and potential problems that it may cause will be discussed. The paper will examine the issue from the point of view of parents, health care professionals and, most importantly, the child-to-be. It will show how unthoughtfully antenatal screening is performed and how pregnancy is treated almost as a disease just since the emergence of antenatal screening. Genetic screening and ethical problems caused by the procedure will also be addressed and I will suggest that screening is more to do with the interests of others rather than those of the child-to be.  (+info)

(6/83) Relation between trihalomethane compounds and birth defects.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the risk of birth defects relative to exposure to specific trihalomethanes in public water supplies. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted based on data from a population based perinatal database in Nova Scotia, Canada and from the results of routine water monitoring tests. The cohort consisted of women who had a singleton birth in Nova Scotia between 1988 and 1995 and who lived in an area with a municipal water supply. The birth defects analyzed included neural tube defects, cardiovascular defects, cleft defects, and chromosomal abnormalities. Two of the four trihalomethane compounds occur in large enough concentrations to be analyzed (chloroform and bromodichloromethane (BDCM)). RESULTS: Exposure to BDCM at concentrations of 20 microg/l or over was associated with an increased risk of neural tube defects (adjusted relative risk (RR) 2.5, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.2 to 5.1) whereas exposure to chloroform was not. Exposure to BDCM of 20 microg/l and over was associated with decreased risks of cardiovascular anomalies (RR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.7). There was a suggestion of an increased risk of chromosomal abnormalities associated with exposure to chloroform, and no evidence of any association between either trihalomethane compound and cleft defects. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort, differences were found in the RR associated with exposure to chloroform and BDCM for each of the congenital anomalies under study. These findings point to the importance of examining specific byproduct compounds relative to risk for these birth outcomes and in particular implicate BDCM and other correlated disinfection byproducts in the aetiology of neural tube defects.  (+info)

(7/83) Is current practice around late termination of pregnancy eugenic and discriminatory? Maternal interests and abortion.

The attitudes of Australian practitioners working in clinical genetics and obstetrical ultrasound were surveyed on whether termination of pregnancy (TOP) should be available for conditions ranging from mild to severe fetal abnormality and for non-medical reasons. These were compared for terminations at 13 weeks and 24 weeks. It was found that some practitioners would not facilitate TOP at 24 weeks even for lethal or major abnormalities, fewer practitioners support TOP at 24 weeks compared with 13 weeks for any condition, and the difference in attitudes to TOP between 13 weeks and 24 weeks is most marked for pregnancies which are normal or involve a mild disorder. It is argued that a fetal abnormality criterion for late TOP is inconsistently applied, discriminatory and eugenic. Four possible moral justifications for current practice are examined, each of which would require significant changes to current practice. I argue in favour of a maternal interests criterion for any TOP.  (+info)

(8/83) Is there a 'new ethics of abortion'?

This paper argues that the central issue in the abortion debate has not changed since 1967 when the English parliament enacted the Abortion Act. That central issue concerns the moral status of the human fetus. The debate here is not, it is argued, primarily a moral debate, but rather a metaphysical debate and/or a theological debate--though one with massive moral implications. It concerns the nature and attributes that an entity requires to have "full moral standing" or "moral inviolability" including a "right to life". It concerns the question when, in its development from newly fertilised ovum to unequivocally mature, autonomous morally inviolable person does a human being acquire that nature and those attributes, and thus a "right to life". The paper briefly reviews standard answers to these questions, outlining some problems associated with each. Finally there is a brief discussion of one way in which the abortion debate has changed since 1967--notably in the increasingly vociferous claim, especially from disability rights sectors, that abortion on grounds of fetal abnormality implies contempt for and rejection of disabled people--a claim that is rebutted.  (+info)

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