Determination of Fetal Abnormalities in Pregnancies Leading to Legal Abortion in Golestan Province (2018-19)

Background and Objective: In recent years, studies have been conducted to determine the prevalence rate of congenital abnormalities in different regions of Iran, most of which were conducted on live births. This study was conducted to determine fetal abnormalities in pregnancies leading to legal abortion in Golestan province. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 199 pregnant women with a gestational age of less than 20 weeks with abortion licenses from the Forensic Medicine Center of Golestan province over 9 months during 2018-19. Demographic characteristics, including parents’ age, ethnicity, and family relationship, and the type of fetal abnormalities were recorded. Results: Given 29,460 births in Golestan province over a 9-month period, the prevalence of fetal abnormalities was determined to be 6.75 per thousand births. The incidence rates of fetal abnormalities were determined to be 6.78, 6.68, 7.69, and 5.65 per thousand births in native Fars (80 cases), Turkmen (65 cases), Sistani (34 cases), and other (20 cases) ethnic groups, respectively. Since the gender of 80 fetuses was unknown, the incidence rates of abnormality were determined to be 4.36 and 3.72 per thousand births in female (63 cases) and male (56 cases) fetuses, respectively. The most common fetal abnormalities included central nervous system (n=49, 24.62%), chromosomal abnormalities (n=47, 23.61%), and cardiovascular impairments (n=26, 13.06%). The incidence of fetal abnormalities was not found to have a statistically significant relationship with parents' age, ethnicity, and family relationship. Conclusion: The most prevalent fetal abnormality was related to central nervous system disorders. The incidence of fetal abnormalities had no relationship with the parents’ age, ethnicity, and family relationship.