ETHICAL DILEMMA IN THE PREGNANCY WITH FETAL MALFORMATIONS

Abstract

Congenital heart malformations, with an incidence of 6-8/1,000 births, represent about 30% of cases of infant mortality due to congenital abnormalities. Of these, most require immediate corrective surgery in the neonatal period. Kidney and urinary tract malformations have an incidence of approximately 1%. The development of ultrasound techniques allowed for prenatal diagnosis of many fetal malformations, some of them lifethreatening. Thus, important ethical problems occur, concerning abortion or guidance of the pregnant woman to a center where the newborn will be operated in the first hours of life.

Keywords

• ethical decisions
• newborn
• congenital heart defects
• kidney malformations
• fetal ultrasound