Anencephaly: Do the Pregnancy and Maternal Characteristics Impact the Pregnancy Outcome?. (25th October 2011) - Machado, Isabela Nelly
Abstract : Objective . To describe the characteristics of obstetric and perinatal outcome of a group of pregnancies complicated by an anencephalic fetus. Methods . Observational study including anencephalic fetuses, divided into groups according to the evolution of pregnancy: elective termination of pregnancy ETP; stillbirths (SBs); live births (LBs), and loss of follow-up. After a univariate description of the sample, some variables were compared using statistical tests. Results . 180 anencephalic fetuses were included. The mean maternal age was 25.3 years. In 71 fetuses (39%) were found additional anomalies. Comparing the groups, no statistical differences in maternal age (P = 0.5315 ), parity (P = 0.6070 ), number of previous abortion (P = 0.7464 ), fetal sex (P = 0.0502 ) and additional anomalies (P = 0.186 ) were found. Among those fetuses whose parents opted for continuation of pregnancy (n = 53 ), 20 spontaneous intrauterine deaths occurred (38%) and 33 were live births (62%). The average postnatal survival time was 51 minutes. There was no association between survival time and gestational age (P = 0.6125 ) or the presence of additional malformations (P = 0.1948 ). Conclusion . Results presented here could contribute to a better understanding of the natural history of this malformation, allowing obstetricians a more detailed discussion with the families.