Intrauterine fetal transfusion, 1963-90

N S Pattison1, A B Roberts, N Mantell

  • 1Department of Obstetrics, University of Auckland Medical School, National Women's Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.

The first fetal transfusion was performed at the National Women's Hospital in Auckland in 1963. From that time until the end of 1990, a total of 1041 transfusions have been completed on 459 fetuses. The survival rate for affected pregnancies rose significantly from 39% in 1963-65 to 90% in 1986-90. The initial 409 patients had fetal transfusions performed via the intraperitoneal cavity with X-ray guidance. Since 1986, 50 pregnancies have been treated with intravascular transfusions under ultrasound guidance and 45 fetuses survived.