COELOCENTESIS - A STUDY OF SHORT-TERM SAFETY

Coelocentesis was performed in 20 singleton pregnancies at 6-10 weeks of gestation and 2-13 days before planned termination. The control gro up consisted of 100 women who were also undergoing planned termination and were matched with the study group for maternal age and gestation. During the follow-up period, there were five miscarriages (25 per cen t) after coelocentesis and five in the control group (5 per cent) (chi (2) = 6.68; P < 0.01). The high risk of miscarriage following coelocen tesis makes the technique unsuitable for early prenatal diagnosis. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.