Objective To assess the feasibility of examining cardiac and non-cardiac fetal anatomy in a low-risk population in the setting of the routine 11-14-week ultrasound scan.
Methods
In triplet pregnancies, embryo reduction to twins significantly reduces the risk of severe preterm delivery and very low birth weight by about one-third, at the expense of a significant increase in total fetal loss, by about one-quarter. The procedure is likely to reduce the risk of having a severely handicapped child due to extreme prematurity.
Chorionic villus sampling appears to be a safe alternative to amniocentesis and should be considered as the method of choice particularly when there is a high risk of an affected fetus necessitating selective feticide.
MFPR resulted in at least one live neonate in 83.75% of cases and was effective in reducing the risks of pregnancy loss and severe prematurity in quadruplets and higher-order pregnancies. The risk of miscarriage increased with increasing finishing number of fetuses. In reduced triplets gestation was prolonged in comparison with average figures reported in the literature. In twin pregnancies selective termination in the first trimester carries a lower risk of severe preterm delivery and this emphasizes the need for first-trimester diagnosis.
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