Selective reduction
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011) |
| Selective reduction | |
|---|---|
| Intervention | |
| MeSH | D018607 |
Selective reduction (or fetal reduction) is the practice of aborting one or more fetuses in a multifetal pregnancy. Such an abortion procedure is often performed after a congenital defect has been identified. Prenatal diagnostic testing may determine that some fetuses have chromosomal defects or a greater chance of genetic diseases, and those fetus(es) are then targeted in selective reduction.
Selective reduction is also used to reduce a higher-order multiple pregnancy (one with three or more fetuses) to a twin or singleton pregnancy. This is done to avoid the medical issues generally related to multiple births, including premature births, low birth weights, and associated medical problems. Selective reduction can also be used to reduce a twin pregnancy to a singleton one, but this is less common as the risks in twin pregnancies, while existent, are much lower than in higher-order multiple pregnancies.
In many cases this type of multifetal reduction is chosen by couples who used fertility treatments that resulted in a multifetal pregnancy.[citation needed]
[edit] Practice
The reduction procedure is generally carried out during the first trimester of pregnancy.[1] The most common method is to inject potassium chloride into the fetus's heart; the heart stops and the fetus dies as a result. Generally, the fetal material is reabsorbed into the woman's body. While the procedure generally reduces the over-all risk level for the remaining fetus or fetuses, reduction does have its own risks, including the possibility that one or more of the remaining fetuses will also die.
Dr. Mark Evans, a New York City-based obstetrician-geneticist, and a group of doctors, developed the procedure for selective reduction in the 1980s.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Komaroff, Anthony. Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide, page 913 (Simon and Schuster 1999): “Selective reduction is usually performed during the first trimester....”
- ^ "Washington Post Magazine Examines Selective-Reduction Procedure For Pregnancies With Multiple Fetuses". http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/71806.php.
