[Transabdominal chorionic villi and placental biopsy: rapid karyotyping in the 1st-3rd trimester of pregnancy]

The diagnostic value and the complication rate of transabdominal chorionic villi and placental sampling was compared with standard amniocenteses. The method ist especially helpful in cases with conspicuous fetal sonographic findings.

The results of 475 biopsies were retrospectively compared with 983 amniocenteses and chorionic villi samplings (CVS).

64% of chorionic villi samplings (CVS) were performed in the first, 30% in the second and 6% in the third trimester. The indications were advanced maternal age (45%) and psychological problems (14%) in the first trimester and conspicuous maternal serum markers (11%) or fetal ultrasound anomalies (12%) in the second and third trimester, respectively. 10 out of 20 aneuploid cytogenetic results were found in fetuses with sonographic anomalies. In 4 cases we found confined placental mosaicism, which was clarified by means of amniocentesis and cordocentesis. We had 8 miscarriages in a total of 475 CVS procedures; 6 in 304 before the 15th week of gestation (1.97%). The natural abortion rate in this gestational age is about 1%, the CVS-related abortion rate therefore is near 1%.

Transabdominal CVS is a low risk method for rapid karyotyping during the entire pregnancy.