Etiologic characterization of recurrent miscarriages in Koreans.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate recurrent miscarriages in Koreans in terms of causative factors and the prognosis for subsequent successful pregnancies in primary and secondary recurrent miscarriages cases.


METHODS
The study retrospectively examined the clinical records of 222 recurrent miscarriage cases that were presented at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, from July 1989 to June 2008. The cases were classified according to the cause and pregnancy rates after the primary and secondary abortions were compared using the chi2 test.


RESULTS
The etiologic analysis indicated that anatomic abnormality (29.4%) was the most common cause of recurrent miscarriage in Koreans, followed by immunologic (26.7%), inexplicable (24.1%), endocrinologic (15.0%) and genetic (11.2%) causes. The subsequent successful pregnancy rate was higher in the secondary recurrent miscarriage group than the primary recurrent miscarriage group (47.9% vs. 31.7%, p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The causative factors of recurrent miscarriages in Koreans differed from those reported in Western studies on the frequency of causes. The prognosis for subsequent successful pregnancies was better in the secondary recurrent miscarriage group, as we expected.
Jeon
Gyun-Ho
GH
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ulsan, College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
So-Ra
SR
Kim
Sung-Hoon
SH
Chae
Hee-Dong
HD
Kim
Chung-Hoon
CH
Kang
Byung-Moon
BM
D000026:Abortion, Habitual / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies