GENETIC AMNIOCENTESIS FOLLOWING MULTIFETAL PREGNANCY REDUCTION DOES NOT INCREASE THE RISK OF PREGNANCY LOSS

A collaborative, retrospective study of patients who had undergone mul tifetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR) to twins and subsequent genetic amn iocentesis was performed to determine if anmiocentesis increased the r isk of pregnancy loss. Seventy-nine patients from three centres underw ent MFPR and subsequent amniocentesis. The pregnancy loss rate was 5.0 6 per cent in this group. In comparison, the loss rate from a control collaborative series of patients who underwent MFPR only was 11.19 per cent, which was not statistically different. Thus, it appears that am niocentesis following MFPR is unlikely to increase the pregnancy loss rate. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.