Intestinal Atresia Caused by Second Trimester Amniocentesis

Abstract

Summary In an amniotic fluid sample obtained by mid‐trimester amniocentesis a string of fetal mucosa and submucosa from the small intestine was found. The fetus was aborted 21 days after the amniocentesis. There was no lesion of the abdominal wall, but an ileal atresia, fibrous adhesions, bilateral hydronephrosis and kinked ureters were found at autopsy.

Obstetrical and neonatological aspects of a child with atresia of the small bowel

“…This for example could be temporary kinking of an artery during rotation of the bowel or an embolus. In some cases amniocentesis with perforation of the fetal abdomen seemed to be such a cause [16,18]. These temporary obstructions can be the reason that disturbances in the blood supply as an etiology are only found in about 25% of the children with atresia of the small bowel [6,19].…”

Hoyuelos cutáneos: una complicación de la amniocentesis

“…Las complicaciones que afectan al feto más frecuentes son el riesgo de pérdida fetal y la punción fetal 4 . La lesión cutánea u hoyuelo constituye la complicación más frecuente de la punción fetal pero también se han descrito otras lesiones como: atresia intestinal 5 , alteraciones oculares 6,7 como ceguera congénita por perforación ocular 8 ponamiento cardíaco 9 , hemorragias intracraneales 10 , malformaciones ortopédicas 11 , disrupción de tendones y nervios periféricos 12,13 , fístulas ileocutáneas y arteriovenosas.…”

Invasive Prenatal Diagnosis: Amniocentesis

“…Nevertheless several case reports document or describe cases of fetal injury to the amniocentesis needle, despite the use of simultaneous guidance for the procedure. [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51] This association though is not based on direct evidence. In addition, there are reports of fetal skin marks in cases without amniocentesis and these suggest that these marks may not be the result of needle puncture of the fetus.…”