Comment on: second trimester abortion and risk of live birth

I read with interest the article by Auger et al1Auger N. Brousseau É. Ayoub A. Fraser W.D. Second-trimester abortion and risk of live birth.Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2024; 230: e65Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Google Scholar entitled "Second trimester abortion and risk of live birth." The objective of this study was to assess the incidence of live births following second trimester pregnancy termination and ascertain the associated risk factors. The findings of this investigation indicate that second trimester abortion poses a potential risk to live birth, particularly during the gestational period of 20 to 24 weeks, although the administration of feticidal injection may mitigate this outcome. Following an extensive analysis of the article, certain inaccuracies have been identified, thereby warranting additional investigation and correction. The analysis of the data presented in Table 1 demonstrates that out of a total of 13,777 abortions conducted between 15 and 29 weeks of gestation, 9940 (72.2%) were performed through labor induction. However, it is imperative to acknowledge that the accurate representation should indicate that 9940 out of the total 13,777 abortions (72.1%) were carried out via labor induction. Similarly, as depicted in Table 1, among the 6630 instances of fetal abnormalities, there were 2834 cases recorded between 2011 and 2021, accounting for 42.8%. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the specific findings reveal that 2834 out of the total 6630 cases of fetal abnormalities (42.7%) occurred within the time frame of 2011 to 2021. Moreover, based on the data presented in Table 2, it can be observed that out of a total of 1227 abortions conducted between 20 and 24 weeks of gestation, 73 cases (6.0%) were associated with severe maternal morbidity. However, a more accurate representation of the findings would indicate that 73 out of 1227 abortions (5.9%) within this gestational range were linked to severe maternal morbidity. Similarly, as depicted in Table 2, among the 61 abortions performed between 25 and 29 weeks of gestation, 44 cases (23.0%) were attributed to other anomalies in the fetus. Nevertheless, a more precise depiction of the outcome would reveal that 44 out of 61 abortions (72.1%) within this gestational range were associated with other anomalies in the fetus. Nevertheless, I would like to extend my appreciation and admiration for the authors' thorough evaluation of the occurrence of live births subsequent to second trimester pregnancy termination, as well as their determination of the corresponding risk factors. Reply: when the clinical point gets lost in the decimal pointAmerican Journal of Obstetrics & GynecologyVol. 230Issue 4PreviewWe appreciate Liqi Li's attention to the proportions in our study. Li calculated proportions that differed from ours, and raised concern of potential errors elsewhere in the results. However, the differences were due to rounding. Our default software settings were set to output proportions to the second decimal position. Further rounding to the first position led to some proportions that were rounded up rather than down. These rounding inexactitudes are not errors and have no reflection on the analytic strategy, interpretation of results, or importance of the findings. Full-Text PDF