Anticardiolipin antibody in women with recurrent spontaneous miscarriage

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between the presence of anticardiolipin antibody (ACA) and history of recurrent spontaneous miscarriage. Also, to evaluate the association between raised ACA and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT).

METHODS: This is a case-control study which was carried out in Basrah Hospital for Maternity and Children, Basrah, Iraq during January to September 2004 on 91 women with recurrent spontaneous miscarriage, matched with 109 women with no history of pregnancy wastage. Sera were collected from these 200 women and analyzed for ACA by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS: In women with pregnancies that ended with a loss, 17.6% were positive of ACA, compared with none among the control group. Women with 4 or more miscarriages had almost higher percentages of ACA (26.3% and 22.2%) than women with only 3 miscarriages (13%) but with no statistical significance. Prolonged APTT was detected among 18.8% of patients having positive ACA while only 1.6% of patients who were negative for this antibody.

CONCLUSION: A significant association was observed between recurrent spontaneous miscarriage and the presence of ACA. Also, there was a significant relationship between positive ACA and prolonged APTT.