American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Volume 172, Issue 2, Part 1 , Pages 695-699, February 1995

Serum CA 125 levels and spontaneous abortion☆

  • Mark D. Hornstein, MD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Mark D. Hornstein, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02115.
    • Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
    • ,
  • Jerome H. Check, MD

      Affiliations

    • University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of Camden, Cooper University Hospital Camden, New Jersey, USA
    • ,
  • Joseph A. Hill, MD

      Affiliations

    • Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Received 10 January 1994; received in revised form 20 April 1994; accepted 27 June 1994.

Abstract 

OBJECTIVE: Previous reports have suggested that serum CA 125 levels in patients who spontaneously abort in the first trimester of pregnancy differ from the levels of patients who successfully complete their pregnancies. Low CA 125 levels have been suggested to predict spontaneous abortion, although an increased rate of first-trimester spontaneous abortion has also been reported in women with elevated CA 125 levels early in pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare serum CA 125 levels of women who abort in the first trimester with levels of those women whose pregnancies progress beyond 12 gestational weeks.

STUDY DESIGN: A total of 188 pregnant patients had weekly serum CA 125 levels obtained after a prepregnancy baseline value was determined. Levels of the antigenb in women who ultimately had a first-trimester spontaneous abortion were compared with CA 125 levels from women whose pregnancies continued past the first trimester.

RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in the CA 125 levels of patients who aborted compared with those of women whose pregnancies continued. In addition, among patients with CA 125 values >150 U/ml there was also no statistically significant difference in the proportion of patients who aborted compared with controls.

CONCLUSION: Serum CA 125 levels are not predictive of spontaneous abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Keywords:  CA 125, spontaneous abortion, pregnancy

No full text is available. To read the body of this article, please view the PDF online.

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 30.00 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

☆ Supported in part by a grant from Centocor, Inc. and by National Institutes of Health grant No. MO1 RR02635 to the Brigham and Women's Hospital General Clinical Research Center.

PII: 0002-9378(95)90596-0

American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Volume 172, Issue 2, Part 1 , Pages 695-699, February 1995

Article Tools