Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment for secondary recurrent miscarriage: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether infusions with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) during early pregnancy increase live birth rate in women with secondary recurrent miscarriage compared with placebo. DESIGN: A single-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: A tertiary centre for recurrent miscarriage in Copenhagen, Denmark. POPULATION: A group of 82 women with unexplained secondary recurrent miscarriage and at least four miscarriages. METHODS: Women were randomly assigned to repeated infusions with IVIg or placebo (albumin) from the time of positive pregnancy test to gestational week 15 or pregnancy loss. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Primary outcome was birth with neonatal survival in all randomised women. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analyses, live birth rates were 23/42 (54.8%) in the IVIg and 20/40 (50.0%) in the placebo group, relative risk 1.11 (95% CI 0.70-1.74). In a per protocol analysis, almost identical results were found. The median gestational length at delivery was higher in the IVIg than the placebo group (282 versus 272 days, P = 0.02) but the mean birthweight was not significantly increased. CONCLUSIONS: In this trial, which is the largest so far, IVIg did not increase the live birth rate in patients with secondary recurrent miscarriage and the treatment cannot be recommended in clinical practice.

Frequency and impact of obstetric complications prior and subsequent to unexplained secondary recurrent miscarriage.

BACKGROUND: The chance of a live birth after a diagnosis of secondary recurrent miscarriage (SRM) is reduced in patients who, prior to the miscarriages, gave birth to a boy and carry HLA class II alleles that efficiently present male-specific (H-Y) antigens to the immune system. Information about obstetric complications in births prior and subsequent to the SRM diagnosis is limited. The relations between maternal carriage of H-Y-restricting HLA, fetal sex, obstetric complications and prognosis are unknown. METHODS: Women with unexplained SRM referred to the Danish Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic between 1986 and 2006 (n = 358) were included; 213 gave birth after the diagnosis. Controls, retrieved from the Danish National Birth Registry, were all women with singleton birth of parity 0, 1982-2005 (n = 608,068) and parity 1, 1986-2008 (n = 510,264). Cross-linkage to the National Discharge Registry identified birth complication diagnoses related to the relevant births among patients and controls. RESULTS: The sex ratio was 1.49 in births prior to SRM and 0.76 in birth after SRM (P < 0.0001). For SRM patients with only late miscarriages (>10 weeks gestation), the corresponding sex ratios were 2.31 and 0.21. Compared with the control groups, obstetric complications were more frequent both before (39% versus 24% P