BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to analyze differences in the indications for amniocentesis in patients living in urban and rural areas before and after introduction of the Prenatal Screening Program by Polish National Health Insurance agency in the Pomeranian region in 2008. MATERIAL AND METHODS Indications for 2578 amniocenteses performed in the Department of Obstetrics of the Medical U...

The finding that amniotic fluid contains living cells which may be cultured (Fuchs, 1966; Steele and Breg, 1966; Nadler, 1968) offers important and interesting prospects for antenatal paediatrics. There is, however, much yet to be learnt both about the safety of the operative procedure and about the techniques of culturing the cells. The only extensive experience of amniocentesis hitherto has b...

The uses of amniocentesis are numerous, including determination of chromosomal abnormalities, lung maturity, and infections. A common complication of amniocentesis is loss of the pregnancy, but rare complications should be considered. The role of patient history and clinical observation of uncommon presentations are critical in the management of the patient.

OBJECTIVE To review the risk of in utero infection through prenatal invasive procedures in women with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and/or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. OUTCOMES Fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. EVIDENCE Published literature was retrieved through searches of Medline, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library using appropriate controlled vocabulary (amniocentes...

STUDY QUESTION Which strategy is least expensive to prevent the birth of a handicapped child in couples with recurrent miscarriage (RM); parental chromosome analysis followed by amniocentesis in case of carrier status of one of the parents, or amniocentesis in all ongoing pregnancies without the knowledge of parental carrier status? SUMMARY ANSWER For virtually all couples with RM amniocentes...

Advanced maternal age (AMA) is usually defined as a mother who is 35 years of age or older at delivery. AMA is related to aneuploidies by nondisjunction of the chromosomes during maternal oogenesis (meiosis) and is therefore an important risk factor for fetuses with chromo-somal abnormalities. AMA has also been used as a sole indicator for undergoing cytogenetic amniocentesis. As such, pregnant...