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Ask Dr. Stephan Moll

These questions have been submitted by folks on the mailing list and answered by Dr. Moll, Director of the Thrombophilia Program at the Carolina Cardiovascular Biology Center, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, UNC Chapel Hill (North Carolina, USA). Why am I doing this?

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16. Pregnancy loss - and thrombophilias

Last Updated: 2/15/2004


Q: "My sisters have both been diagnosed with factor V Leiden hetero. One sister had one miscarriage and two stillbirths (one at 7 mo. and the other at 6 mo.). The other sister had one miscarriage and three normal pregnancies. What could be the difference between my two sisters to have such different outcomes in their pregnancies?"

A: Pregnancy loss (as well as thrombosis) is often a multifactorial problem, that is: several risk factors come together to cause the pregnancy loss (or the thrombosis). Factor V Leiden is only one of the risk factors. Likely, your one sister has more risk factors than the other.

There are many reasons for pregnancy loss, and reasons differ, depending on whether it is a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd trimester loss. Details of the pregnancy loss are very important in the attempt to understand the reason for the pregnancy loss and to decide, whether thrombophilia work-up should be done, and heparin (such as Lovenox®, Fragmin®, or others) and possibly additional aspirin recommended for future pregnancies.

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