Miscarriages may be more likely to occur with slow developing embryos

Embryo development may be slower in certain pregnancies that end in miscarriage, according to a study that uses virtual reality to visualize the embryo using ultrasound scans of the vagina.

Melek Rousian of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said the technology is not yet ready for clinical use, but could be a step towards predicting from early pregnancy whether it could lead to miscarriage. There is

More than half of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, but many miscarriages occur so early that they don’t even know they’re pregnant. Some people have multiple miscarriages without knowing why. That means pregnancy can be a time of great anxiety.

To further understand why miscarriages occur, Rousian’s team developed a method that uses ultrasound scans of the vagina to create highly detailed 3D images of the embryo. Images are magnified to approximately adult size and visually inspected by researchers wearing VR headsets.

The team made these images for 644 pregnant women, 33 of whom had miscarried. Transgender people were not included in the study.

Looking at 3D images made about eight weeks after conception, the researchers found that, on average, embryos that eventually miscarried developed more slowly compared to pregnancies that lasted to term. confirmed.

Embryonic maturity was assessed by the so-called Carnegie staging system. This indicates which physical features have developed, such as limb buds and early facial features, according to a 23-step scale.

The team found that a woman’s chance of miscarriage increased by 1.5% for each delay in Carnegie stage.

Eight weeks after conception, the researchers say, this corresponds to about four days of developmental delay in the aborted embryo. “Four days in a very important period of life, when all organs develop and all limbs develop, is a very big gap,” says team member Carsten Pietersma.

If the results are confirmed in a larger study, doctors may be able to let people know if their embryos are developing normally, says Rousian.

It is not known exactly why slower-growing embryos are more likely to be miscarried. Other studies have found that aborted embryos or fetuses often have altered or different numbers of chromosomes, the packages of DNA contained in almost all cells.

Ruth Bender Atik of the Miscarriage Association, a British aid charity, says 3D embryo images may reassure some people, but they can also cause uncertainty and anxiety.

Some people who have had previous miscarriages don’t want an ultrasound scan of their vagina, she says, while others are dying to see how their pregnancy is progressing.