Quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction to detect chromosomal anomalies in spontaneous abortion.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the value of short tandem repeats (microsatellites) in the study of numerical chromosomal anomalies in spontaneous abortion.

METHOD: Multiplex quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR) was carried out on 61 spontaneous abortion samples and 48 controls using microsatellite markers from 8 chromosomes where aneuploids are commonly found.

RESULTS

Of the 61 samples, 65.6% were successfully karyotyped, and the call rate of the QF-PCR was 98.3%. The correspondence between PCR and karyotyping was 95%. The success rate of karyotyping in the inevitable abortion group was 79.6%, higher than for the missed abortion group (8.3%), P<0.001. The call rate of QF-PCR showed no difference between these 2 groups (100% vs 91.7%, P=0.197).

CONCLUSION

Microsatellite-based QF-PCR is a helpful and reliable tool to diagnose numerical chromosomal anomalies in spontaneous abortion. It also provides a diagnosis for necrotic tissue.