Abstract

PIP: The technique of overnight incubation of chorionic villi tissue from abortion samples makes it possible to prepare a fetal karyogram within a day, in contrast to the 4-6 weeks required for conventional tissue culture techniques. Previously cytogenic analyses could be carried out only in exceptional cases because of the resources required for conventional tissue culture. In 211 cases of spontaneous abortion studied by the overnight culture technique, 65% showed pathological karyotypes. A detailed action plan for obtaining chorionic villi tissue by the gynecologist minimizes the chances that the tissue culture will be contaminated by maternal tissue. The various types of chromosome anomalies which appeared in the short incubation karyograms corresponds roughly with the distribution pattern obtained in other investigations of aborted material. Trisomy karyotypes dominated (57%) in which chromosomes 16 and 22 were most frequently involved. Mosaic and triploid anomalies were the 2nd and 3d most common.