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Congenital abnormalities: failure to detect and treat

^1. Academic Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Nottingham City Hospital, Hucknall Road, Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK Email: pam.loughna{at}nottingham.ac.uk (corresponding author)

Key content:

• Not all congenital abnormalities can be detected by routine screening.
  
• The primary reason for litigation in this area is failure to offer termination of pregnancy as a result of failure to diagnose a problem.
  

Learning objectives:

• To be aware that prenatal screening for anomalies is not restricted to screening for trisomy 21.
  
• To be aware of the limitations of the current UK screening programme.
  
• To be aware that difficulties encountered in achieving a satisfactory screening test must be recorded and the mother informed.
  

Ethical issues:

• Prenatal diagnosis is not a ‘seek-and-destroy’ mission.
  
• Optimum management may, however, include termination of pregnancy.
  

Please cite this article as: Loughna P. Congenital abnormalities: failure to detect and treat. The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist 2008;10:33–37.

Keywords congenital abnormality / medicolegal / trisomy 21 / UK National Screening Committee / ultrasound scanning