Deaths caused by pulmonary thromboembolism after legally induced abortion.

Pulmonary thromboembolism is an infrequent but serious complication of induced abortion. Of the 104 abortion-related deaths reported to the Center for Disease Control in 1972 through 1975, 10 (9.6 per cent) involved fatal pulmonary embolism; eight of these cases were proved at autopsy. All but one of the women had pre-existing risk factors for thromboembolic disease, including obesity, previous thrombophlebitis, use of oral contraceptives, or type A blood. All but one case occurred in women who had received general anesthesia. In addition, four of the eight women had undergone a concurrent sterilization procedure at the time of the abortion. Preventive efforts should focus on identifying women at high risk for thromboembolic events prior to the abortion procedure and then selecting the abortion procedure least likely to produce postoperative embolism.