Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch www.karger.com Fetal Diagn Ther 2008;23:192–197 DOI: 10.1159/000116740 Feticide Does Not Modify Duration of Labor Induction in Cases of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Luciana Vivas Silva José Guilherme Cecatti João Luiz Pinto e Silva Eliana Amaral Ricardo Barini Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil Introduction In Brazil, pregnancy termination in cases of nonviable fetuses is only permissible with judicial authorization. Brazilian law permits abortion only in cases of rape or risk to maternal life. Otherwise, it is considered a crime and subject to the penalties described in the Brazilian Pe- nal Code [1] . In the specialized prenatal fetal medicine outpatient unit of the Women’s Integrated Healthcare Center (CAISM), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), pregnancy termination following judicial authorization has been performed since July 1994. Annu- ally, this unit deals with approximately 250 new cases in the area of fetal medicine of which, on average, 10% in- volve cases of fetal abnormalities incompatible with ex- trauterine life. In half of these cases, the family chooses to induce labor. Between July 1994 and January 2006, 166 judicially authorized pregnancy terminations were per- formed, the majority of which involved malformations of the central nervous system, followed by malformations of the genitourinary tract and poly-malformation syn- dromes. Up to 2001, 64 legal terminations had been performed in the unit, all in women receiving prenatal care at CA- ISM. At that time, induction of labor or abortion was al- Key Words Feticide  Pregnancy termination  Fetal malformation  Labor induction  Fetal death  Maternal complications Abstract Objectives: To compare the general characteristics and clin- ical outcome of women who underwent medical termina- tion of pregnancy preceded or not by feticide. Methods: A total of 146 women of diverse gestational ages, who had re- ceived a sonographic or genetic diagnosis of fetal abnormal- ity incompatible with postnatal life and chose to legally ter- minate their pregnancy, had labor induced following feticide (n = 82) or without having feticide performed (n = 64). Re- sults: The number of obstetrical procedures was higher (p = 0.001) in the feticide group. Time of labor induction and complications were similar in both groups. Conclusion: Fe- ticide does not alter the clinical obstetrical course of women undergoing medical termination of pregnancy, and poses no risk to maternal health regardless of gestational age. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel Received: August 3, 2006 Accepted after revision: December 5, 2006 Published online: February 20, 2008 Prof. Dr. Ricardo Barini Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, Centro de Atenção Integral à Saúde da Mulher Disciplina de Obstetrícia, Departamento de Tocoginecologia Avenida Alexander Fleming 101, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil) Tel. +55 19 3521 9336, Fax +55 19 3521 9304, E-Mail ricardo@barini.med.br © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel 1015–3837/08/0233–0192$24.50/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/fdt