Missed abortion: An evaluation of conservative management

Abstract

1. 1. A series of thirty-nine cases of missed abortion is presented in which a non-viable dead fetus was retained for at least twenty-eight days. 2. 2. Surgical evacuation of the retained ovum was not attempted in any patient in this series. 3. 3. Only seven patients required any assistance toward completion of the active aborting process. 4. 4. There was no maternal mortality and in only one case was there any morbidity. 5. 5. The only deaths from missed abortion in Brooklyn during the past ten years resulted when surgical interference was instituted. 6. 6. Laboratory data indicative of fetal death are not entirely reliable except when the Aschheim-Zondek test is negative and roentgenologic study indicates positive evidence of death of the fetus. 7. 7. Surgical and hormonal induction of labor are discussed, together with the pertinent pathologic conditions.