[Percutaneous ultrasound-guided sampling of fetal blood]

The authors give their experience of percutaneous ultrasound-guided sampling of fetal blood carried out over a period of two years. They suggest a modification of the technique, using linear screening scanning. This has made it possible to reduce the number of unsuccessful attempts at sampling. An analysis of the indications and of the results in 49 attempts at puncture shows how to select the indications better. This is particularly so when fetal abnormalities have been found on ultrasound examination. The authors think that this method, because of its reliability and the speed with which results are obtained, should be a method of choice for screening for chromosome abnormalities which might be thought to exist from the pictures obtained by ultrasound.