Læknablaðið - 15.12.1999, Blaðsíða 41
LÆKNABLAÐIÐ 1999; 85
975
Þrí- og fjórburafæðingar
á íslandi 1982-1998
Guðjón Vilbergsson, Sæmundur Haraldsson
Vilbergsson G, Haraldsson S
Higher order multiplc births in Ieeland 1982-1998
Læknablaðið 1999; 85; 975-80
Objective: To investigate the incidence of higher
order multiple pregnancies in Iceland during the last
17 years.
Background: The incidence of higher order multiple
births has been rising in many countries during the
last 10-20 years. This increase is mostly due to more
successful treatment of infertility. In order to answer
the question how the incidence of multiple pregnan-
cies has been during recent years, the following
study was undertaken.
Material and methods: Informations about multiple
pregnancies were gathered from the records of the
Icelandic Birth Registry for the years 1982-1998.
Results: There was a total of 73,164 births during
this period, including 960 twins and 34 higher order
multiple births (33 triplets and one quadruplets
birth). The period was divided into the period prior to
and after in vitro fertilisation - IVF. The latter period
was then divided into two parts creating three groups
with a similar total number of births that was nearly
equally divided between these three groups. Twin
births were 239, 298 and 423 in each group and the
incidence increased from 1:103 to 1:85 and 1:55 as a
proportion of total births in each period. The number
of higher order multiple births was four, nine and 21
in the three periods giving an incidence of 1:6127,
1:2803 and 1:1116. There was therefore an increase
in multiple births during this period and the increase
in higher order multiples was greater than for twins.
Frá Kvennadeild Landspítalans. Fyrirspurnir, bréfaskipti:
Guðjón Vilbergsson, Kvennadeild Landspítalans, 101
Reykjavík. Sími 560 1185, bréfsími: 560 1191, netfang:
gammak@isholf.is
Lykilorð: þungun, þríburar, fjötburar, fleirburar, meðgöngu-
lengd, fæðingarþyngd, tiðni.
Of the 103 higher order multiple babies bom four
died, giving a perinatal mortality of 38.8%o. Mean
gestational age at birth was 33.3 weeks, ranging from
27 to 37 weeks. All babies were delivered by Cesa-
rean section. The first born baby of the triplets was
generally the heaviest one and the last born the ligh-
test. The mean birth weight of the last born was close
to -2 standard deviation (SD) as compared with
singletons of the same gestational age.
Conclusions: The incidence of multiple births has
been increasing in Iceland during the last 17 years
and specially during the last decade. The increase is
mostly in the era after IVF treatment became more
successful.
Keywords: triplets, multiple pregnancy, pregnancy, birth
weight.
Ágrip
Tilgangur: Athuga tíðni þrí- og fjórbura-
fæðinga á Islandi á síðustu 17 árum.
Inngangur: Fleirburafæðingum hefur verið
að fjölga víðs vegar í heiminum, aðallega vegna
árangursríkari meðferða við ófrjósemi. Fleir-
burafæðingum hafði farið fækkandi hér á ári,
en margt bendir til að þeim sé að fjölga aftur.
Efniviður og aðferðir: Upplýsingar voru
fengnar úr fæðingartilkynningum hjá fæðingar-
skráningunni urn fleirburameðgöngur fyrir árin
1982-1998. Reiknaðar voru tíðnitölur sem hlut-
fall af öllum fæðingum og borið saman við töl-
ur fyrir tvíburafæðingar. Tímabilinu var skipt
upp í tíma fyrir og eftir glasafrjóvgun (in vitro
fertilisation, IVF) og seinna tímabilinu skipt í
tvö fímm og hálfs árs tímabil til að fá þá þrjá
nokkuð jafnstóra hópa hvað varðar heildar-
fjölda fæðinga.
Niðurstöður: Alls voru 73.164 fæðingar á
tímabilinu, þar af 960 tvíburar og 34 þrí- og
fjórburar (þar af 33 þríburar og einir fjórburar).