Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling

Abstract

In the present day, fetal blood is sampled from the umbilical vein via a needle guided by dynamic ultrasound from the maternal abdomen (percutaneous umbilical blood sampling, PUBS). PUBS has become important in the fields of fetal physiology, diagnosis and therapy. Indications for PUBS are fetal karyotyping, prenatal diagnosis of blood disorders and congenital infection, and evaluation of fetal hypoxemia. Although risk of fetal loss following PUBS depends on the indication for the procedure and the experience of the operator, the rate of fetal loss after PUBS is assumed to be around 1%. Recent advances in molecular and cytogenetic techniques have restricted the number of reasons for using PUBS. However, since this technique offers a considerable advantage in enabling access directly to the fetal circulation, PUBS is likely to be used more frequently for fetal therapy than for prenatal diagnosis in the future.