Abstract

Background: Perinatal autopsy is an important tool to look out for various congenital malformations and its impact on perinatal morbidity and mortality. Though radiological intervention has reduced the incidence, perinatal autopsy is essential for confirmation of diagnosis and to look out for additional information.

Objectives: To emphasize the importance of perinatal autopsy in diagnosing and confirmation of congenital malformations and to compare it with prenatal clinical findings. Materials and Methods: The present study comprises 100 consecutive perinatal autopsies after approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Prior consent from parents were taken and autopsy was done using standard protocols. Prenatal radiological findings were compared with the autopsy findings wherever available.

Results: Out of 100 perinatal autopsies studied, 45 cases shows congenital anomalies, which included 26 males, 13 females and 6 cases with ambiguous genitalia. Among the 45 cases, 21 were therapeutic terminations, 15 still births and 09 cases of Intrauterine Deaths. The most common timing of therapeutic termination encountered was between 12–20 weeks. Out of 45 cases, anomalies were present in 16 cases of central nervous system (CNS), 5 of lung, 4 from kidney, 2 of heart, 7 cases of syndromes, 5 cases with multisystem involvement and 5 cases of miscellaneous group.

Conclusion: Perinatal autopsy is essential to confirm congenital malformations and to look for additional findings. Also, it helps to counsel the parents to prevent such complications in future pregnancy.

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