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Abortion - threatened
Alternative Names:
Threatened miscarriage; Threatened spontaneous abortion
Symptoms:
-
Vaginal bleeding during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy (last menstrual period was less than 20 weeks ago)
-
Abdominal cramps may or may not accompany vaginal bleeding
Note: With true miscarriage, low back pain or abdominal pain (dull to sharp, constant to intermittent) typically occurs and tissue or clot-like material may pass from the
vagina
.
Signs and tests:
Pelvic examination reveals a
cervix
that is neither thinned (effaced) nor open (dilated). Either of these could suggest impending miscarriage.
-
A
serum HCG
may be performed to confirm that a pregnancy exists.
-
Beta
HCG (quantitative)
test may be repeated over a period of days or weeks to confirm either continued pregnancy or fetal death.
-
A
CBC
may be obtained to determine the degree of blood loss.
-
A
WBC
with
differential
may be obtained to rule out infection.
-
A
pregnancy ultrasound
is used to detect fetal heartbeat.
This disease may also alter the results of the following tests:
-
Review Date: 8/8/2005
-
Reviewed By: Sharon Roseanne Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Fellow, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
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