Gastroschisis: what part can the obstetrician play?

In order to assess the contribution of antenatal diagnosis to the management of gastroschisis, the antenatal and postnatal data from 24 cases of gastroschisis observed between 1974 and 1990 were re-examined. The frequency of antenatal diagnosis (29%), polyhydramnios (21%), atresia of the small intestine (29%), length of pregnancy (36.6 +/- 2 weeks of amenorrhea), proportion of cesarean sections (21%), birth weight (2230 +/- 430 g) and the Apgar score after 5 min (9.0 +/- 1.5) were comparable to findings reported elsewhere. The overall mortality rate for the period studied was high (41%), and was not influenced by any antenatal parameter or by the mode of delivery; its recent fall (P = 0.01) is explained by the development of therapeutic methods. These results are consistent with other recent studies and suggest that antenatal diagnosis does not enable an accurate assessment of the prognosis to be made and has no major influence on the mortality rate in gastroschisis.