Spontaneous recurrent fetal wastage and autoimmune abnormalities: a study of fourteen cases

Case records of 14 women with spontaneous recurrent fetal wastage were analyzed. Venous and/or arterial thrombosis developed in nine patients and vasospastic symptoms in eight. Every patient had some kind of autoantibodies: prothrombin activation inhibitor was present in seven cases, anticardiolipin in five, and, antimitochondrial antibodies in two. Antinuclear antibodies were present in seven cases, and significant titer of antibodies to single-stranded DNA in nine cases. With a mean follow up of 6.5 years no patient developed systemic lupus erythematosus. It is suggested that such women have a peculiar form of vasculitis.