Assessment of Histopathological Features of the Placenta and Plasma Level of βHCG, Estrogen, and Progesterone in First-Trimester Spontaneous Miscarriage

Miscarriage is a distressing complication with many fetal and maternal abnormalities. About 15% of pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriages, and over 80% of these occur in the first 12 weeks of gestation. This research aims to evaluate the changes in the hormonal status in addition to determining the types and incidences of abnormalities in the decidua and chorionic villi of placentas that have been aborted. The peripheral blood samples were collected from twenty normal pregnant women as a control group and 30 aborted women. The obstetric characteristics results showed that the patients' mean maternal age was 25.73 ± 7.32 years compared with 25.5 ± 4.12 years in controls with no significant differences. Similarly, the two groups were comparable in gravida, parity, and history of abortion with no significant differences. The histopathological examination of the placenta from women who miscarried revealed that twenty cases (66.67%) showed hemorrhage, whereas 16 patients (53.33%) showed inflammation. Fifty percent of aborted placentas revealed necrosis, 6.67% had edema, 40% showed congested blood vessels, 13.33% had hydropic degeneration, and 13.33% showed partial hydatidiform mole. Only one case showed complete H. mole; 40% revealed fibrinoid deposition, 46.67% had fibrosis, and 16.67 illustrated hyalinization. The hormonal study showed highly significant differences between the study groups in the human chorionic gonadotropin, Estradiol, and progesterone hormones. We conclude that a comprehensive study that includes a histopathological examination of the placenta and other clinical investigations is essential for a better understanding of miscarriage.