CYTOGENETIC FINDINGS IN ECHOGRAPHICALLY DEFINED BLIGHTED OVUM ABORTIONS

A sample of 52 spontaneous blighted ovum abortions (BO) was examined c ytogenetically and compared with a sample of abortions with echographi c evidence of the embryo (AE). Abnormal karyotypes were 67% in the BO sample and 53% in the AE sample, a non significant difference. In the BO abortions trisomies were 74% of the abnormal karyotypes but 35% in the AE abortion, and the 45,X karyotype was absent among the BO but wa s found in 10 cases of AE. The prevalence of trisomies 16 and 22 in th e BO abortions indicates that genes on these chromosome may be respons ible for the early arrest of embryonic development.