BACKGROUND: The association among hereditary thrombophilia, recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and obstetric complications is yet uncertain. The objective of the study was to assess the prognostic value of the factor V Leiden (FVL) and prothrombin (PT) mutations for the subsequent chance of live birth for women with RPL.

METHODS: Pregnancy outcome was recorded in a retrospective cohort of 363 women with a minimum of three consecutive pregnancy losses (early miscarriage, late miscarriage or stillbirth/neonatal death) who were not treated with anticoagulation therapy.

RESULTS: Of the 363 women, 29 were FVL-mutation carriers and 6 were PT-mutation carriers. The unadjusted live birth rate was 45.7% in FVL/PT carriers versus 63.4% in FVL/PT non-carriers, P = 0.04. The adjusted odds ratio for live birth in FVL/PT carriers was 0.48 (95% CI = 0.23-1.01), P = 0.05. Among the obstetric complications, only excessive bleeding was found to be associated with FVL/PT mutations.

CONCLUSIONS: In the unadjusted analysis, FVL and PT mutations have a negative prognostic impact on the live birth rate in women with RPL; however, when adjusting for significant covariates, the results no longer reach statistical significance. Strong conclusions on the association between obstetric complications and hereditary thrombophilia cannot be drawn from this study. Whether anticoagulation therapy would improve the prognosis in women with RPL and FVL/PT mutations remains to be documented in large randomized controlled trials.