Role of Autopsy in Elective Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Anomaly (ETOPFA): A Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital in India.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the fetal anomalies in all the patients who underwent elective termination of pregnancy for fetal anomalies (ETOPFA) before 20 weeks of gestation and to compare prenatal diagnosis with final diagnosis made after autopsy.

METHODOLOGY: Prospective study done in a tertiary care hospital in India over a period of two years which include 252 women who underwent ETOPFA. The prenatal diagnosis was compared with final diagnosis made after autopsy.

RESULTS

In 75.4% of cases autopsy findings were concordant with prenatal diagnosis where as in 21.6% of cases, additional findings were added. In 2.9 % of cases prenatal diagnosis was not confirmed by autopsy and found to be discordant.

CONCLUSIONS

Autopsy plays an important role in completing the final diagnosis along with verification of prenatal diagnosis. To avoid discrepancy especially in cases of severe oligohydramnios, MRI or amnioinfusion could be offered for conformation of the diagnosis before offering ETOPFA.