title: First-trimester invasive procedures and congenital abnormalities.
abstract: A prospective study was undertaken to determine whether first-trimester amniocentesis or chorion villus sampling was associated with an increased incidence of congenital anomalies. The infants of mothers who had undergone first-trimester amniocentesis (EA) (n = 352), chorion villus sampling (CVS) (n = 348) or no invasive antenatal procedure (controls) (n = 264) were examined at a median age of 5 months. Both the EA and CVS groups had a higher proportion of infants with congenital anomalies (n = 18 and n = 22, respectively) than the control group (n = 4) (p < 0.01). Certain of the abnormalities, however, affected only single infants. Compression abnormalities were more common in the EA group than in the controls (p < 0.05), but not in the CVS group. The isolated limb abnormalities which occurred were minor anomalies affecting the digits and were seen in both the CVS (n = 6) and EA (n = 3) groups. First-trimester invasive procedures are thus associated with an excess of congenital anomalies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Health, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Greenough
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yuksel
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nicolaides
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015193:Chorionic Villi Sampling / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First