EARLY SONOGRAPHICALLY GUIDED AMNIOCENTESES WITH FILTRATION TECHNIQUE - FOLLOW-UP ON 249 PROCEDURES

Fetal and neonatal outcome is reported for 249 consecutive low-risk pr egnancies in which early amniocentesis was carried out with filter tec hnique, at a mean gestational age of 12.5 weeks, to improve the yield in cell cultures. Three pregnancies (1.2%) were terminated because of abnormal test results, four stillbirths (1.6%) occurred between weeks 33 and 38, and five pregnancies were lost spontaneously after sampling , corresponding to 2% of unintended fetal losses before 28 weeks of ge station. Of the live-born infants, 2.9% were delivered prematurely, al l between weeks 32 and 37. Malformations and orthopedic postural defor mities were not associated with leakage after amniocentesis and were f ound at expected rates. None of the cases was lost to follow-up. The i ncrease in abortion rate caused by early amniocentesis with filter tec hnique is likely to be within the same range as that seen after routin e amniocentesis and transabdominal chorionic villus sampling, although the sample is too small for a proper risk evaluation.