A pilot study on the use of a 7-day course of letrozole followed by misoprostol for the termination of early pregnancy up to 63 days

Abstract

BackgroundOur previous randomized controlled study showed that the complete abortion rate in termination of pregnancy up to 63 days with the combined use of letrozole for 3 days followed by vaginal misoprostol was significantly higher than that of misoprostol alone. A positive correlation was observed between the basal estradiol level and the failure rate. We performed this pilot study to assess if a longer course of letrozole followed by misoprostol would improve the estradiol suppression and the complete abortion rate of pregnancy up to 63 days. Study DesignTwenty subjects requesting legal termination of pregnancies up to 63 days were recruited. Medical abortion was offered with letrozole 10 mg daily for 7 days followed by vaginal misoprostol 800 mcg on the 7th day. ResultsMedian induction-to-abortion interval was 7.5 h (range, 4.75–10.75 h). Overall complete abortion rate was 95%. All subjects with gestation ≤49 days (12/12) as well as 87.5% of subjects with gestation between 50 and 63 days (7/8) had complete abortion. No major adverse event were reported and over 88% of women would like to have medical termination as an option should it be required in the future. ConclusionThis pilot study showed that a 7-day course of letrozole followed by vaginal misoprostol was associated with a very high complete abortion rate (95%) which is comparable to the standard regimen with sequential use of mifepristone and misoprostol in medical termination of early pregnancy up to 63 days.