A fetus at risk for congenital adrenal hyperplasia
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
The authors discuss the case study of a 21-years-old pregnant woman whose first child was a boy with a congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to a 21-hydroxylase deficiency. During the eighth week of her pregnancy she was treated with glucocorticoids, because of the risk that the fetus might be affected by the same disease as the other child. The therapy was continued after confirmation of the disease by prenatal diagnosis with chorionic villus sampling (CVS) at the 10th week. Three ethical issues are considered in the article: 1) the acceptability of the risks connected with the CVS; 2) the risk/benefit ratio for the fetus and mother with reference to the therapy carried out; 3) the effects of a beginning of the treatment after a less dangerous and more effective late prenatal diagnosis by amniocentesis. Finally the authors present their personal view on decision-making in a case like this one.
Downloads
Citations
