title: Cordocentesis (funipuncture) by maternal-fetal fellows: the learning curve.
abstract: One hundred cordocenteses were attempted at the University of Mississippi Medical Center between July 1, 1989, and June 1, 1991. There were 1.3 attempts for each successful umbilical blood sampling. The overall success rate was 94%. The first-year fellows-in-training attempted 61 procedures with a 90.2% success rate within two attempts and an overall success rate of 95.1%. Second-year fellows attempted 32 procedures with a 93.8% success rate within two attempts and an overall success rate of 93.8%. Procedure-related complications included five episodes of fetal bradycardia (one resulting in a stillbirth at 20 weeks) and a single case of chorioamnionitis. Of the three perinatal deaths, two were associated with severe congenital anomalies resulting in a corrected procedure-related mortality rate of 1%. The morbidity and mortality associated with cordocentesis appears to be relatively low and fellows-in-training can perform such procedures with no apparent increase in complications if appropriately supervised.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson.
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Allbert
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Floyd
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: McCaul
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Morrison
mesh_terms: D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods*; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D006801:Humans; D010500:Perinatology / Q000193:education*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011677:Punctures; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal