[Autoimmune abortive disease. A new entity of gynaeco-obstetrical expression]

The relationship between abortive disease and systemic lupus erythematosus is complex as shown by data from the literature and by our 9 patients selected for presenting with abortive disease, circulating anticoagulant and biological signs of autoimmunity. The risk of transformation into a systemic disease is real, although difficult to evaluate in the absence of prospective studies, but the major problem with these patients is the severity of the obstetrical pathology. The sombre foetal prognosis, already reported in the literature, requires close supervision and sustained treatment during pregnancy. For these reasons we suggest calling autoimmune abortive disease the disease which affects women with signs of autoimmunity who have had several, often late foetal deaths associated with the presence of circulatory anticoagulant thought to interfere with placental blood flow.