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FIRST TRIMESTER CVS IS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE.

Amniocentesis has proved to be a safe and effective technique for prenatal diagnosis, but it is not usually performed until 16 weeks after the beginning of the last menstrual period. Chorionic villus sampling (CVS), a newer technique in which a catheter is inserted transcervically under the guidance of ultrasonography, can be performed during the first trimester, which reduces the period of anxiety and increases the options for and safety of terminating a pregnancy.

This multicenter, nonrandomized study involved 2278 women who had CVS and 671 who had amniocentesis. CVS resulted in cytogenetic diagnoses in 97.8 percent of women as compared with 99.4 percent for amniocentesis. CVS produced no errors in sex determination or in the detection of the major trisomies; two diagnoses of aneuploidy proved to be wrong. There were no instances of sepsis. The estimated fetal loss rate that might have been attributable to the procedure was 0.8 percent greater for CVS than for amniocentesis.

Thus, CVS appears to be nearly equivalent to amniocentesis in procedure success, diagnostic accuracy, and safety.

— ALK

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine March 17, 1989

Citation(s):

Mennuti MT. Prenatal diagnosis -- advances bring new challenges. N Engl J Med 1989 Mar 9 320 661-663.

• Medline abstract (Free)

Rhoads GG et al. The safety and efficacy of chorionic villus sampling for early prenatal diagnosis of cytogenetic abnormalities. N Engl J Med 1989 Mar 9 320 609-617.

• Medline abstract (Free)