The effect of maternal age on chromosomal anomaly rate and spectrum in recurrent miscarriage.

Study Question: Is there any effect of maternal age on chromosomal anomaly rate and spectrum in recurrent miscarriage?

Summary Answer: There was no significant difference in the chromosome abnormality rate between sporadic and recurrent miscarriage but the chromosome abnormality rate increased significantly with maternal age.

What Is Known Already: About 50-70% of non-recurrent miscarriages occur because of a chromosomal anomaly, but no agreement about the effect of either maternal age or the number of previous miscarriages on the chromosomal anomaly rate has been reached.

Study Design, Size, Duration: A retrospective cohort of 353 miscarriages successfully karyotyped in the same center between 2002 and 2011, grouped according to the number of miscarriages and maternal age.

Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: Among the 353 women, 153 were below 35 years (73 with sporadic, 48 with two and 32 with recurrent miscarriage) and 200 were 35 years or more (81 with sporadic, 55 with two and 64 with recurrent miscarriage). The chromosomal anomaly rate and the anomaly spectrum were compared between sporadic and recurrent miscarriage, within the two maternal age groups, using the chi-square test and the Bonferroni correction for all the P-values. Risk of chromosomal anomaly was estimated for maternal age, number of miscarriages and previous live births by multivariate binary logistic regression analysis.

Main Results And The Role Of Chance: Sporadic and recurrent miscarriage did not show significantly different chromosomal anomaly rates (68 versus 60%) and maternal age was the only statistically significant predictor of the chromosomal anomaly risk we identified. Some trends were observed in the chromosomal anomaly spectrum when sporadic was compared with recurrent miscarriage: recurrent miscarriage exhibited a decrease in viable trisomies (37 versus 11%) and an increase in non-viable trisomies (38 versus 57%) in women >35 years, together with an increase in unbalanced structural anomalies (4.9 versus 29%) in younger women.

Limitation, Reasons For Caution: The mixed origin of our study population, and the limited number of recurrent miscarriages, particularly in the younger group, limits statistical power to detect differences.

Wider Implications Of The Findings: The most commonly observed chromosomal anomaly type in recurrent miscarriage depends on maternal age: non-viable autosomal trisomies in older women and unbalanced structural anomalies in younger women. When a chromosomal anomaly is identified as the cause of miscarriage, additional maternal evaluation may be avoided.

Study Funding/competing Interests: No competing interests declared.