Early embryonic mortality in women

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Endocrinology
• Human Embryology
• Clinical Chemistry

Background:

• Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) measurements are utilized for evaluating early pregnancy outcomes.
• A significant proportion of human conceptuses are lost early in gestation, often without clinical recognition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a reliable method for assessing early embryo loss using human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) measurements.
• To determine the incidence of early pregnancy loss in a population attempting conception.

Main Methods:

• Urine samples from a control group of sterilized women were analyzed to establish a baseline concentration limit for hCG (56 IU/l).
• 198 ovulatory cycles from women attempting conception were monitored.
• Fecundability and pregnancy risk were calculated for the study population.

Main Results:

• The risk of pregnancy in observed cycles was 59.6%.
• A high rate of early conceptus loss was observed, with 61.9% of pregnancies lost before 12 weeks.
• The vast majority of these losses (91.7%) occurred subclinically, unrecognized by the women.

Conclusions:

• Subclinical early pregnancy loss is a frequent event in women attempting conception.
• Accurate measurement of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is crucial for identifying and understanding early embryo loss.
• The study highlights the high frequency of unrecognized pregnancy losses, impacting reproductive health assessments.