Live birth rate varies with gestational history and etiology in women experiencing recurrent spontaneous abortion

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to assess pregnancy outcome in relation to etiologic factors of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). STUDY DESIGN: The pregnancies from consecutive 216 RSA women were assessed for live birth rates (LBR) according to etiology. The LBR in 110 pregnancies from RSA women with unexplained etiology was investigated according to various therapies. An attempt to karyotype the abortuses was made. RESULTS: Excluding pregnancies ending in abortion with abnormal karyotype, the LBR in primary recurrent spontaneous aborters (68.8%) who experienced three or more abortions was significantly lower than that in primary repeated aborters (82.4%) who experienced two abortions. The LBR ranged from 50 to 100% according to the etiology. In RSA women with unexplained etiology, the LBR in those undergoing massive intravenous immunoglobulin (MIVIg) therapy (100%) was significantly higher than those with low dose aspirin (57.1%) and luteal support therapy (67.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Excluding pregnancies ending in abortion with abnormal karyotype, we found that LBR varied with abortion history and etiologic factors of RSA.