Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings April 2014, Volume 27, Number 2 | Page 69

Fetal demise due to cord entanglement in the early second
trimester
Rahime Nida Ergin, MD, Murat Yayla, MD, and Ayse Seda Ergin, MD

In this report, we describe a rare cause of in utero fetal death, a complex
entanglement of the umbilical cord around the fetal neck. At the 16th
gestational week of pregnancy, routine fetal ultrasonography showed
no fetal heartbeat. Thereafter, the fetus was delivered vaginally in the
breech presentation. The neck was found to be encircled by multiple
tight loops of the umbilical cord. Other than a thin and elongated neck,
there were no dysmorphic features and no chromosomal abnormality
on cytogenetic analysis.

C

ord entanglement is a common finding in utero;
however, fetal demise resulting from nuchal cord
entanglement is rare (1–8). This report describes
such a case.

CASE PRESENTATION
The 37-year-old patient had no history of familial genetic
disease and no systemic disease. In her previous pregnancy, she
delivered a healthy baby girl vaginally at the age of 31 years. The
present pregnancy was conceived naturally. Screening completed
at the 12+3 gestational week, which included fetal nuchal translucency measurement, maternal serum pregnancy-associated
plasma protein A levels, an Bg&VR&WFևV