[Amniocentesis and chorionic villi biopsy. A 10-year material].
PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the prenatal diagnosis at a secondary referral hospital. METHOD: A retrospective study was carried out on 1752 women examined by amniocentesis (AC) (n = 1037) or chorion villus sampling (CVS) (n = 715) at Randers Centralsygehus from 1 April 1987 to 31 December 1996. RESULTS: A cytogenetic diagnosis was made in 99.8% of the AC group and 99.4% of the CVS group. Complications, recorded as either spontaneous abortion, bleeding/threatening abortion, pain/contractions or amniotic fluid leakage, were seen in 1.9%, 3.3%, 2.9%, and 2.3% after AC and 1.8%, 7.3%, 3.4%, and 0% after CVS. There were significantly more re-examinations after CVS when the procedure was carried out by less experienced operators (p < 0.003), whereas experience did not influence the number of re-examinations after AC (p = 0.8). CONCLUSION: The frequency of complications during prenatal procedures performed over a period of ten years was comparable with that reported in other studies. It is expedient and safe to perform prenatal examinations at a secondary referral hospital where currently 200 procedures are performed each year.