Examination of products of conception terminated after prenatal investigation.

Abstract

SUMMARY A large number of district general hospitals have access to diagnostic ultrasonography and other methods of prenatal diagnosis, resulting in an increased supply of freshly terminated malformed fetuses to general histopathology departments, and there is now more open discussion of malformation and greater concern over fetal wastage. General pathologists are therefore under greater pressure to produce complete and detailed descriptions of a wide range of often complex anomalies. The dismissal of specimens as "multiple congenital anomalies" is becoming increasingly unacceptable to couples who wish to embark on further pregnancies and to their medical attendants. As in other fields an understanding of the methods and terminology in clinical use and a consistent diagnostic approach should help pathologists to extract sufficient information for accurate counselling.

Evaluation of a Protocol for Postmortem Examination of Stillbirths and Neonatal Deaths with Congenital Anomalies

“…In three patients with hydrolethalus syndrome, the radiographic examination showed skeletal alterations not totally identified by dissection [35,36]. Other authors already commented on the importance of a postmortem radiographic study in patients with congenital anomalies [9,14,[37][38][39].…”

“…Postmortem photographs serve as an instrument for an ulterior analysis of a case and, along with the X-rays, are valuable as part of the permanent case record. Routinely taken extensive photographs are a convenient method of recording features that may be difficult to describe [38]. In 50 cases, the diagnosis was confirmed by clinical genetic evaluation and autopsy.…”