title: Ethical considerations regarding parental decisions for termination following prenatal diagnosis of sex chromosome abnormalities.
abstract: Termination rates following prenatal diagnosis of sex chromosome abnormalities have been reported to be in a very wide spectrum (12.7-86.5%) in various studies. The different attitudes in management of prenatal diagnosed sex chromosome abnormalities may depend on several factors as the type of the abnormality, the indication for prenatal testing, the number of previous healthy children and whether the pregnancy was assisted or spontaneous. In the current study, we look at prenatal diagnostic procedures carried out in our department over a period of 5 years (2002-2007). We did not detect sex chromosome abnormalities in the 43 cordocenteses and the 26 chorionic villus samples. Among the 1130 amniocentesis patients, 12 cases (1.06%) were diagnosed as having sex chromosome abnormalities. Five (41.67%) of 12 pregnancies with sex chromosome abnormalities were terminated (one case with 47,XXY, one case with 46,X,del(X), and three cases with 45,X karyotype); whereas seven pregnancies (58.33%) continued. Among the factors influencing parents' decision-making, the attitude of the health-care professional giving the post-diagnosis counseling seems to be the most important, next to the socio-economic and educational status of the parents.
authors.affiliation: Baskent University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Genetics, Ankara, Turkey. zerriny@baskent.edu.tr
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: F I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bulakbasi
authors.forename: O O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Yüregir
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tarim
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yanik
mesh_terms: D000025:Abortion, Eugenic / Q000941:ethics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015193:Chorionic Villi Sampling / Q000941:ethics; D017218:Cordocentesis / Q000941:ethics; D003657:Decision Making; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012729:Sex Chromosome Aberrations; D014421:Turkey; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000941:ethics; D055815:Young Adult