Missed abortion: still appropriate terminology?
The term missed abortion has been in the obstetric literature more than 100 years. With ultrasonographic evaluation of early pregnancy, its textbook definition (death of a fetus without its expulsion for greater than or equal to 8 weeks) is rarely fulfilled. Yet the term missed abortion is still extensively used today with regard to early pregnancy losses. We recommend its abandonment and in its place the use of the following terms: first trimester intrauterine fetal death, second trimester intrauterine fetal death, and anembryonic gestation.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, Chicago Lying-In Hospital, IL 60637.
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Pridjian
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Moawad
D000030:Abortion, Missed / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D009626:Terminology as Topic