Abstract
During a 4 1/2-yr period a special study of 207 consecutive perinatal deaths, including clinical, genetical, roentgenological and autopsy investigations, was undertaken with the aim of identifying inherited malformations with a a high risk of recurrence to subsequent sibs. Fifty-three of the children dying perinatally were malformed. In 13 cases the cause of the malformation was purely genetic; 11 were caused by mutant genes of large effect, and 2 by chromosomal aberrations. Information from such a study provides a good basis for genetic counseling of the family.