[Intrauterine fetal death in the third trimester]

Retrospective analysis of third trimester intrauterine deaths has been performed at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology University Medical School Debrecen, Hungary. Among 32,126 deliveries between 1988 and 1997 retrospectively 163 intrauterine deaths occurred in the third trimester. Cases were analysed on the basis of the Nordic-Baltic Perinatal Death Classification. The role of intrauterine growth retardation, cord complication and fetal malformation are discussed. An interesting finding was the high rate of intrauterine growth retardation where cord complication was supposed to be the cause of intrauterine death. Concerning both to medical and legal aspects precise and exact documentation should be needed for the correct retrospective analysis.