Termination of pregnancy due to fetal abnormalities performed after 32 weeks’ gestation: survey of 57 fetuses from a single medical center

OBJECTIVE: To assess fetal abnormalities leading to very late termination of pregnancy (VLTOP) performed after 32 weeks' gestation. METHOD: The study population included all pregnant women with singleton pregnancy that underwent VLTOP in our institute because of fetal indications between the years 1998 and 2015. RESULTS: Fifty-seven cases (2.0%) were at ≥32 weeks' gestation and are the subjects of the current study. Our VLTOP cases were subdivided into four categories according to the sequence of events that led to the decision for VLTOP: (1) No routine prenatal screening with an incidental fetal finding discovered after 32 weeks' gestation (9 fetuses ∼16%); (2) Routine early prenatal care raised suspicion of abnormalities, and the final diagnosis was established by additional tests (8 fetuses, ∼14%); (3) Developmental findings detected during the third trimester (21 fetuses; ∼37%), and (4) fetal abnormalities that could have been detected earlier during pregnancy (19 fetuses; ∼33%). CONCLUSIONS: The two categories in which the pregnant women did not underwent any fetal evaluation (i.e. group 1) or those that could have been detected earlier (i.e. group 4) consists ∼49% from our cohort in which VLTOP could have been avoided.