Evaluation of fetal congenital abnormalities leading to the licensing of therapeutic abortion in Legal Medicine of Isfahan from 2012 to 2014

As many countries, abortion has always been a sensitive issue in terms of cultural, social, political and religion in Iran. This study was performed with aim to investigate the distribution and causes of fetal congenital abnormalities leading to the licensing of therapeutic abortion in Legal Medicine of Isfahan province.
This retrospective study with forensic epidemiology approach was performed on the records of therapeutic abortions certificates with fetal causes in Legal Medicine of Isfahan province from 2012 to 2014. During the study period, a total of 629 therapeutic abortions certificates with fetal causes were recorded which after evaluation of the mentioned abortions, data related to age, education and residence of the mother and the age of the fetus and the fetal causes of abortion were extracted and were recorded in data collection form. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 18) in descriptive statistics and analytic method of multinomial regression. P In terms of frequency distribution of fetal abnormalities, 233 (37.4%) cases of legal abortions certificates were due to cephalic disorders. The second most commonly fetal disorder is hydrops fetalis with 113(18%) cases. The third disorder is chromosomal or trisomy problems, which contains 85(13.5%) of the cases. Skeletal dysplasia with 69 (11%) cases, the fourth most common disorder, followed by thalassemia major with 46 (7.3%) cases.
The distribution of abortion is not the same in different cities of Isfahan. Considering the fact that a significant portion of abortions don’t refer to Legal Medicine and also the mothers who refer to Legal Medicine, but cant receive legal permission, so it is not possible to determine the true feature of abortion in Isfahan province.