A Korean research team of two university hospitals has discovered a method to predict miscarriages in women with previous miscarriages following in vitro pregnancies.
Professors Shin Jung-ho (left) and Kim Yong-jin of Korea University Guro Hospital presented findings that progesterone levels can predict miscarriages in women who have had them previously after in vitro fertilization. |
Researchers from Korea University Guro Hospital고대구로병원 and Seoul National University Hospital서울대병원 conducted a study on 148 women who have experienced two or more unexplained miscarriages after in vitro fertilizations.
The findings showed women who had less than 25 ng/mL blood progesterone concentration levels had a higher probability of having a miscarriage.
Notably, the study found women with a blood progesterone concentration of 25ng/mL or more had a pregnancy maintenance rate of 98 percent. The numbers fell by more than half (41.8 percent) in women who had a blood progesterone concentration of less than 25ng/mL.
The findings suggest that blood progesterone concentration should be above 25ng/mL to significantly lower the risk of miscarriage.
“Although we have known progesterone is a hormone that plays a significant role in pregnancy, we had no accurate figures to predict successful pregnancies until now,” said Professor Kim Yong-jin김용진 of Korea University Guro Hospital. “This study suggests blood progesterone concentration of 25 ng/mL can be an explicit reference for predicting early miscarriages, which will be helpful in the initial treatment and follow-up studies.”
The study – conducted by Korea University Guro Hospital’s Kim Yong-jin and Shin Jung-ho신정호 and Seoul National University Hospital’s Ku Seung-yup구승엽 – was published in the July edition of the international journal, PLOS ONE.
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