Search PubMed⌕ Search
Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 16905025

Recurrent miscarriage.

Raj Rai·Lesley Regan
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Many human conceptions are genetically abnormal and end in miscarriage, which is the commonest complication of pregnancy. Recurrent miscarriage, the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies, affects 1% of couples trying to conceive. It is associated with psychological morbidity, and has often proven to be frustrating for both patient and clinician. A third of women attending specialist clinics are clinically depressed, and one in five have levels of anxiety that are similar to those in psychiatric outpatient populations. Many conventional beliefs about the cause and treatment of women with recurrent miscarriage have not withstood scrutiny, but progress has been made. Research has emphasised the importance of recurrent miscarriage in the range of reproductive failure linking subfertility and late pregnancy complications and has allowed us to reject practice based on anecdotal evidence in favour of evidence-based management.

Explore related subjects

Abortion, HabitualAdultAneuploidyFemaleHumansMaternal AgePregnancyPrognosisRisk FactorsJournal ArticleReview

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Raj Rai, Lesley Regan. 2006-08-12. Recurrent miscarriage.. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(06)69204-0

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2006

Endothelial dysfunction: a link among preeclampsia, recurrent pregnancy loss, and future cardiovascular events?

We tested the hypothesis that endothelial dysfunction could cause placentation-related defects, persist after the complicated pregnancy, and probably cause cardiovascular disease later in life. Brachial arterial reactivity and factors related to endothelial dysfunction, such as circulating cholesterol, uric acid, nitrites, l-arginine, asymmetrical dimethylarginine, vascular endothelial growth factor, and soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1, in women with previous healthy pregnancies (n=22), patients with severe preeclampsia (n=25), or patients with recurrent pregnancy loss (n=29), at day 10 of the luteal phase of an ovulatory cycle an average of 11 to 27 months after pregnancy were evaluated. Both groups with placentation defects had a significant decrease in endothelium-dependent dilatation, a higher rate of endothelial dysfunction, lower serum nitrites, and higher cholesterol as compared with control subjects; subjects with previous preeclampsia additionally had higher normal blood pressures and a greater parental prevalence of cardiovascular disease. Patients with recurrent pregnancy loss also demonstrated a significantly lower endothelium-independent vasodilatation. A trend to an inverse correlation was found between serum cholesterol serum and endothelial-mediated vasodilatation in the whole study population. Uric acid, l-arginine, asymmetrical dimethylarginine, vascular endothelial growth factor, and soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 were similar in all of the groups. We postulate that endothelial dysfunction may represent a link between preeclampsia and increased cardiovascular disease latter in life and propose that women with unexplained recurrent miscarriages are also at increased cardiovascular risk. The identification and correction of endothelial dysfunction detected during the reproductive stage on obstetric outcome and on cardiovascular diseases needs to be elucidated.

Abortion, Habitual↗
PubMed2006

Factors predicting birth weight in a low-risk sample: the role of modifiable pregnancy health behaviors.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to examine background and modifiable pregnancy health behavior factors predicting infant birthweight in an economically and educationally disadvantaged sample with low medical risk. METHODS: PARTICIPANTS were recruited from a family practice center in rural Appalachia. PARTICIPANTS: Over 220, predominantly Caucasian and lower SES women with low risk pregnancies were included in the sample. Data were collected through systematic chart review. Half of the women smoked during pregnancy and over 10% gave birth to low birth weight (LBW; < 2500 g) babies. RESULTS: Compared with those who gave birth to normal weight newborns, women with LBW babies had more miscarriages, but did not differ significantly on other background factors. Women who delivered LBW babies gained less weight during pregnancy and were more likely to smoke than remaining women. After control for background factors, modifiable pregnancy health behavior factors (weight gain, prenatal care, smoking, alcohol and substance use) accounted for over 11% of birth weight variance, with nearly 7% attributable solely to smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy smoking was the strongest behavioral predictor of LBW in this economically and educationally disadvantaged rural sample, suggesting that efforts to reduce LBW in similar populations should include targeting pregnancy smoking.

Abortion, Habitual↗