The risk of cerebral palsy in survivors of multiple pregnancies with cofetal loss or death.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the risks for cerebral palsy in survivors of multiple pregnancies with cofetal loss (< 20 weeks' gestation) or cofetal death (>or= 20 weeks' gestation).

STUDY

DESIGN

The total Western Australian population-based case-control study included 741 cases of cerebral palsy.

RESULTS

Antenatal cofetal loss or death occurred in 3% of all cases of cerebral palsy, which is a small but significant contribution. The odds ratio for cerebral palsy in survivors of cofetal loss that included iatrogenic pregnancy reduction was 2.65 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78-8.98), which gave a population-attributable proportion of 7.28% (95% CI, 0-27.5), compared with 4.25 (95% CI, 1.12-16.10) and 10.6% (95% CI, 1.0-35.6) for survivors of cofetal death.

CONCLUSION

This study quantifies the contribution of cofetal death to cerebral palsy and suggests that cofetal loss makes a similar, although somewhat smaller, contribution to the risk for cerebral palsy in survivors of multiple pregnancies.