Adverse influence of numbers of previous miscarriages on results of paternal lymphocyte immunization in patients with recurrent spontaneous abortions.

PROBLEM: To determine whether an increase in the number of previous miscarriages in recurrent spontaneous abortion patients is a risk factor in subsequent pregnancies with paternal lymphocyte immunotherapy.

METHOD OF STUDY: Live birth rates with reference to previous abortion numbers in recurrent spontaneous abortion patients were statistically compared between paternal lymphocyte immunotherapy and control groups, the latter retrospectively researched using historical data before 1981 in our clinic.

RESULTS

The overall live birth rate was 73% (169/232) in the immunotherapy group, and 48% (47/97) in controls (P <0.05). According to previous abortion numbers, the rates were 77% (114/148) versus 55% (36/65) (P < 0.05) for three previous abortions, 70% (40/57) versus 38% (8/21) (P < 0.05) for four and 56% (15/27) versus 27% (3/11) (not significant) for five, in the study and control groups, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The results confirm the efficacy of paternal lymphocyte immunotherapy, but demonstrate that the success rate deteriorates with the number of previous miscarriages.