Termination of pregnancy due to fetal abnormalities performed after 32 weeks' gestation: survey of 57 fetuses from a single medical center.

Objective: To assess fetal abnormalities leading to very late termination of pregnancy (VLTOP) performed after 32 weeks' gestation. Method: The study population included all pregnant women with singleton pregnancy that underwent VLTOP in our institute because of fetal indications between the years 1998 and 2015. Results: Fifty-seven cases (2.0%) were at >= 32 weeks' gestation and are the subjects of the current study. Our VLTOP cases were subdivided into four categories according to the sequence of events that led to the decision for VLTOP: (1) No routine prenatal screening with an incidental fetal finding discovered after 32 weeks' gestation (9 fetuses similar to 16%); (2) Routine early prenatal care raised suspicion of abnormalities, and the final diagnosis was established by additional tests (8 fetuses, similar to 14%); (3) Developmental findings detected during the third trimester (21 fetuses; similar to 37%), and (4) fetal abnormalities that could have been detected earlier during pregnancy (19 fetuses; similar to 33%). Conclusions: The two categories in which the pregnant women did not underwent any fetal evaluation (i.e. group 1) or those that could have been detected earlier (i.e. group 4) consists similar to 49% from our cohort in which VLTOP could have been avoided.