Value of histopathologic examination of uterine products after first-trimester miscarriage

The main rationale of routine histopathologic examination of products after first-trimester miscarriages is to detect an ectopic pregnancy or a molar pregnancy, which require further management. An alternative approach is to examine the products only when there is a definite indication. As there is no agreement, we aimed to study whether routine histopathological examination of tissues obtained after first-trimester miscarriage is of any clinical value in our populations. Medical records of all (558) patients with a diagnosis of first-trimester miscarriage over 4 years (2007-2010) at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were reviewed. Histopathologic examination confirmed products of conception in 537 (96.2%) patients, no products of conception in 17 (3%) patients, molar pregnancy in 2 (0.4%) patients, and decidual tissues without chorionic villi (Arias-Stella reaction) in 2 (0.4%) patients. After clinical correlation, only one unsuspected partial molar pregnancy was diagnosed by histopathology examination. Conclusion is that it does not appear reasonable to perform histopathological examination routinely after all first-trimester miscarriages in our studied population. We recommend that histopathological examination be performed in select instances: when the diagnosis is uncertain, when fewer tissues have been obtained during surgery, when unexpected pathology was seen, when ultrasound suggests a molar pregnancy, or when patients are considered at high risk for trophoblastic disease.