Early diagnosis of pregnancy failure with transvaginal ultrasound

Vaginal ultrasound was used to assess a consecutive series of 353 patients to determine the minimum mean gestation sac diameter at which a failed pregnancy could be diagnosed. Fetal heart movements could be demonstrated in all pregnancies with living fetuses when the mean sac diameter exceeded 1.2 cm. Vaginal ultrasound is superior to both static and transabdominal real-time ultrasound in the diagnosis of early pregnancy failure.