33. Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion
- John T. Queenan MD1,
- Catherine Y. Spong MD2,
- Charles J. Lockwood MD3
Published Online: 4 JAN 2012
DOI: 10.1002/9781119963783.ch33
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd
Book Title
Queenan's Management of High-Risk Pregnancy: An Evidence-Based Approach, Sixth Edition
Additional Information
How to Cite
Lockwood, C. J. (2012) Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion, in Queenan's Management of High-Risk Pregnancy: An Evidence-Based Approach, Sixth Edition (eds J. T. Queenan, C. Y. Spong and C. J. Lockwood), Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781119963783.ch33
Editor Information
- 1
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
- 2
Bethesda, MD, USA
- 3
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Publication History
- Published Online: 4 JAN 2012
- Published Print: 24 FEB 2012
ISBN Information
Print ISBN: 9780470655764
Online ISBN: 9781119963783
- Summary
- Chapter
- References
Keywords:
- obstetric complications;
- recurrent SAB, most challenging to manage;
- pregnancy losses, prior to third trimester;
- sporadic miscarriage and maternal age;
- etiologies of recurrent SAB, and genetic abnormalities;
- balanced translocations, with recurrent SAB, 30-fold;
- single gene defects, promoting recurrent miscarriage;
- müllerian tract anomalies and recurrent SAB;
- inherited thrombophilias, and APA syndrome;
- genetic factor identification
Summary
Patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion are among the most challenging to manage. The history of care for these patients has been strewn with nonevidence-based, anecdotal, and occasionally dangerous management approaches. The nomenclature of recurrent spontaneous abortion is confusing, with myriad different definitions extant. Prevalence estimates are compromised by the high background rate of pregnancy wastage in the general population which exceeds 50% when losses from conception through discernible embryonic development are included. A generally accepted number is that 1% of couples suffer two or more consecutive pregnancy losses prior to the third trimester.