Therapeutic abortion in Iran: an epidemiologic study of legal abortion in 2 years.

OBJECTIVES: Unsafe abortion is one of the most important causes of death and disability among mothers in countries where abortion is illegal. These conditions have changed since then. The present study has investigated the cases who were referred to the legal medicine organization to receive abortion permission. This country level secondary patient data analysis, investigated all the cases who were referred to the legal medicine centers of Iran for abortion permission during 2015 to 2017. RESULTS: From 21,477 applicants, 15,617 (72.71%) received permission including 14,367 (91.99%) for fetal abnormalities and 1250 (8.01%) for maternal diseases. The most common fetal abnormalities/disorders were nervous system malformations (26.4%), chromosomal abnormalities (18.4%) and of maternal diseases were circulatory system diseases (43.9%), neoplasms (13.4%) and genitourinary system diseases (9.9%). The most common reasons for not permission were lack of supplementary documents to prove (38.8%), not competency with the criteria (33.9%), and gestational age of more than 19 weeks (25.8%).

Umbilical Cord Diameter at Early Second Trimester: Relation to Trisomy 21.

BACKGROUND: To compare the umbilical cord diameter (UCD) at early second trimester (at 17-19 weeks of gestation) in trisomy 21 and normal fetuses and determined value of measuring UCD in screening trisomy 21. METHODS: This was a case-control study. The UCD was measured in 39 fetuses with trisomy 21 (documented by chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis) and 39 fetuses in control group at 17-19 weeks of gestation. The control groups were low-risk fetuses for aneuploidy in routine screening and were shown not to have aneuploidy after birth. RESULTS: Mean of UCD in fetuses with trisomy 21 was lower than normal fetuses, but there were no significant differences between them (7.48 ± 0.99 mm vs. 7.66 ± 0.91 mm; P = 0.41). Mean of UCD had no significant difference between other maternal variable, for example, body mass index and obstetric history. Mean of UCD among mothers who had previous cesarean section was significantly lower than without it (7.21 ± 0.97 vs. 7.71 ± 0.97; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: At 17-19 weeks of gestation, the UCD of fetuses with trisomy 21 is thinner than normal, but the importance of this difference is too small for using this measurement in screening.

Characteristics of women applying for a legal abortion in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

BACKGROUND: Legal abortion has been permitted in the Islamic Republic of Iran since 2003 if there is serious and incurable disease that would cause the mother or the fetus suffering. AIMS: This study evaluated the characteristics of women applying for a legal abortion licence to the Tehran Province General Office of Legal Medicine, and compared the findings with earlier studies to evaluate changes over time. METHODS: All women visiting the office between August 2011 and 2012 to apply for a legal abortion licence were interviewed and sociodemographic data, reason for the application and outcome of the application were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 1378 women applied for a licence, and 48% were issued. Most applications (80.6%) were for fetal rather than maternal indications and 90.2% of the licences issued were for fetal indications. Most of the applications for fetal indications (53.7%) were granted a licence, while 75.7% for maternal indications were rejected. Neurological abnormalities in the fetus were the most common reason for the application (24.6%) and licences issued (30.7%). Neurological and psychological disorders were the most common maternal reason in all applications (25.7%) and in unsuccessful applications (28.6%). Cardiac disease (23.1%) was the most common maternal reason in successful applications. CONCLUSIONS: Comparison of the results with those of earlier studies shows an increase in the number of women applying for a legal abortion licence and in the number of licences issued. Similar studies are recommended to provide information on the effect of national abortion laws and help improve the legal abortion process in the Islamic Republic of Iran.