Purpose: to determine the frequency of prenatal diagnosis in newborns with gastroschisis operated at the Instituto Materno-Infantil de Pernambuco (IMIP) and to analyze its repercussions on neonatal prognosis. Patients and Methods: a cross-sectional study was carried out, including 31 cases of gastroschisis submitted to surgical correction in our service from 1995 to 1999. Prevalence risk (PR) of neonatal death and its 95% confidence interval were calculated for the presence of prenatal diagnosis and other perinatal and surgical variables. Multiple logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine the adjusted risk of neonatal death. Results: only 10 of 31 cases of gastroschisis (32.3%) had prenatal diagnosis and all were delivered at IMIP. No newborn with prenatal diagnosis was preterm but 43% of those without prenatal diagnosis were premature (p < 0,05). Birth-to-surgery interval was significantly greater in the absence of prenatal diagnosis (7.7 versus 3.8 hours). The type of surgery, need of mechanical ventilation and frequency of postoperative infection were not different between the groups. Neonatal death was more frequent in the group without prenatal diagnosis (67%) than in the group with prenatal diagnosis (20%). The main factors associated with increased risk of neonatal death were gestational age <37 weeks, absence of prenatal diagnosis, delivery in other hospitals, birth-to-surgery interval > 4 hours, staged silo surgery, need of mechanical ventilation and postoperative infection. Conclusions: prenatal diagnosis was infrequent among infants with gastroschisis and neonatal death was extremely high in its absence. It is necessary to achieve greater rates of prenatal diagnosis and to improve perinatal care in order to reduce this increased mortality.
Gastroschisis; Prenatal diagnosis; Neonatal outcome; Fetal malformations; Prematurity
