Complications of Amniocentesis in Northwest IRAN

Abstract

Objective : Although prenatal diagnosis by amniocentesis has been accepted as a reliable and low risk method, it is still an invasive diagnostic procedure and carries the risk for procedure-related complications. This study aimed to evaluate the relation of amniocentesis with early (before 20 th week) and late (after 20 th week) pregnancy complications. Methods: Present study used a case control design conducted on consecutive pregnant patients scheduled for diagnostic amniocentesis (n=920), and patients who had counseling in the same period but did not undergo amniocentesis (n=426). The early complications were defined as those occurring during the first 7 days after procedure including miscarriage, spotting, and vaginal bleeding (as occurring in a menstrual period). The late complications were those occurring after 20 th week of gestation, or vaginal bleeding after 7 days following the procedure. Results: A total of 920 pregnant women were included as case group, of which 58.7% presented before 18 th week and 41.3% presented after 18 th week of GA for evaluating fetal genetic status. The most prevalent GA for this process was 16th week (15-23w). The early complications were water breaks (0%), Abortion (0.8%), spotting (0.3%), and vaginal bleeding (0.1%) during 7 days after sampling. The late complications were water breaks (1.6%), Abortion (0%), spotting (0%), and vaginal bleeding (1.8%) after 20 th week. Conclusion: Evaluating complications of amniocentesis in Northwest of IRAN revealed acceptable rate of early and late complications. This is because of high-volume performance in this tertiary centre in expert hands. Considering the ethical and religious limitations we do recommend using first trimester screening methods in Islamic countries to get earlier results.