Ultrasound-guided fetal intravenous transfusion for severe rhesus haemolytic disease

Abstract

Intrauterine, intraperitoneal transfusion is associated with a poor survival rate in fetuses with hydrops and low gestational age. A method of direct fetal intravenous transfusion was used in two fetuses. One fetus with severe rhesus haemolytic disease was given transfusions in the 29th and 30th weeks of gestation, using an ultrasound-guided needle through the hepatic part of the umbilical vein without fetoscopy. In another fetus, an experimental cannulation of the umbilical vein succeeded in the 23rd week of gestation. Ultrasound-guided fetal intravenous transfusion avoids the use of fetoscopy, which has limitations, and may improve the prognosis for rhesus-sensitised fetuses. © 1982, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.