Comparative genomic hybridization analysis of spontaneous abortion.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the feasibility and superiority of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in the genetic analysis of spontaneously aborted tissues.

METHODS

38 conceptuses from early failed pregnancies were studied, of which, 27 samples were fresh and 11 were old. Each sample was divided into two parts, one part for conventional cytogenetic analysis and the other for CGH analysis.

RESULTS

All 38 spontaneously aborted tissues were analyzed successfully by the CGH approach, but only 31 samples received results from the cytogenetic karyotype analysis, while 7 other tissues failed to get data due to failure in tissue culturing. Among the specimen successfully analyzed by both approaches, 90% (28 out of 31) obtained identical results, and 14 aneuploidies were found. The only structural chromosome aberration in this series, 46, XY, del(3) (q22-24), was found using the CGH approach, which appeared as a normal male karyotype on the chromosomal metaphase spread. Also, two cases indicated triploidies under cytogenetic analysis but appeared to be normal on the CGH profile. In addition, among the seven samples of tissue culture failure, CGH identified three to be aneuploidies.

CONCLUSION

The CGH analysis accurately identifies chromosomal unbalanced abnormalities related to spontaneous abortions with low failure rate.