1 Departments of Pediatrics, Neurology, Otolaryngology, and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco
Sixty-six nonhydropic fetuses received intra-uterine transfusions for severe erythroblastosis fetalis; 24 survived the neonatal periodthe youngest is now more than 1 year and the oldest 5 years of age. Serial evaluations of growth and development of the survivors were compared with their course in the perinatal period. Twenty-one were normal; one suffered severe central nervous system damage associated with severe cardiorespiratory failure, prolonged acidosis, and hypoxia during the neonatal period; one has a handicap due to hearing loss and one has a speech handicap. The results support the use of intra-uterine transfusion in appropriately selected fetuses when combined with aggressive treatment of cardiorespiratory distress and hyperbilirubinemia during the neonatal period.
Submitted on June 29, 1970