AMA says ultrasound in-utero "portraits" are bad idea
CHICAGO -- Keepsake ultrasound "portraits" of fetuses are not medically appropriate and should be discouraged, the American Medical Association's House of Delegates stated at its annual meeting here this week.
Recent advances in ultrasound technology, including 3-D image capacity, have made the "pre-birth" portraits popular, which prompted the Missouri delegation to the House of Delegates to ask the AMA to go public about the risks of the practice.
The Missouri doctors said the ultrasound portraits are often done by unqualified technicians in whose hands ultrasound, which is generally a safe procedure, may have unanticipated risks.
The new AMA policy directs the organization to adopt current Food and Drug Administration policy on the use of non-diagnostic fetal ultrasound. The FDA policy states that "keepsake" fetal videos are an unapproved use of a medical device. In approving the policy, the House of Delegates also directed AMA leaders to lobby the FDA to enforce its prohibition of unapproved, non-medical uses of the technology.
During a reference committee hearing "testimony was overwhelmingly in support of this resolution calling for the responsible use of diagnostic ultrasound during pregnancy," said Dr. Daniel van Heeckeren, who chaired the reference committee.
Dr. Van Heeckeren, a thoracic surgeon at University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio, added that "fetal ultrasonography is considered safe when properly used. And although there is no evidence to suggest that exposing a fetus to unnecessary ultrasound is harmful, strong support was voiced endorsing its use only where there is a clear medical benefit to the patients."
He also noted that use of diagnostic ultrasound for "keepsake" purposes puts the clinician at risk of potential legal liability since this imaging is often performed without parents receiving the standard counseling that normally precedes ultrasound examinations.
Dr. Marilyn Laughead, of Scottsdale, Arizona, and a delegate from the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, said, "Although there is no confirmed biological effect of ultrasound known today, there may be some effect identified in the future. For that reason ultrasound should be used only for medically indicated purposes."
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Posted by Editor at June 22, 2005 06:27 AM
