Blighted ovum is the most common cause of miscarriage. Experts estimate that blighted ovum accounts for about 50 percent of all miscarriages in the first trimester. About 15 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage before 13 weeks of pregnancy.
A blighted ovum will eventually cause a miscarriage, usually at 7 to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Your body realises that the pregnancy is not developing properly and starts to shed blood and tissue from the uterus.
Blighted ova are quite common. Dr. Cannon notes that blighted ovum is the cause behind a staggering 50% of first-trimester miscarriages. And considering that 10% to 20% of all known pregnancies end in miscarriage—and more than 80% happen in the first trimester—that's not a small number.
What causes a blighted ovum? A blighted ovum is usually caused by chromosomal or genetic problems during cell division. During conception, the egg will begin to divide shortly after being fertilized by sperm.
Unfortunately, blighted ovum miscarriages are not rare. It is the leading cause of miscarriages. A blighted ovum is one of the more common forms of miscarriages and is invariably associated with a chromosomal abnormality.
How common is a blighted ovum? Blighted ovum is the most common cause of miscarriage. Experts estimate that blighted ovum accounts for about 50 percent of all miscarriages in the first trimester. About 15 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage before 13 weeks of pregnancy.
The doctor can sometimes misdiagnose a blighted ovum simply because they believe that the pregnancy is more advanced than it actually is.
It is also known as an anembryonic pregnancy. It is usually caused by a mistake in the material of the egg or sperm or the combination of both. Stress, exercise, or sex does not cause this problem. There is nothing you could have done to prevent it.
Miscarriages from a blighted ovum are often due to problems with chromosomes, the structures that carry genes. This may be from a poor-quality sperm or egg. Or, it may occur due to abnormal cell division. Regardless, your body stops the pregnancy because it recognizes this abnormality.
Blighted ovum hCG levels can remain elevated for a bit, so depending on your situation, your doctor may wait a few days, retest your hCG and perform another ultrasound.
Because early normal pregnancies also show a gestational sac but no detectable embryo during a brief but finite stage of early development (approximately 4.5–6 weeks for most normal pregnancies)15, the diagnostic dilemma of an 'empty' sac is a common one.
There are a number of reasons why a blighted ovum can be misdiagnosed. During an early pregnancy visit, your doctor will typically use an ultrasound to look for signs of a viable pregnancy. If the doctor sees what they believe is an empty embryonic sac, they may tell you that you have a blighted ovum.
Abnormal serum estradiol levels strongly suggest the absence of fetal development and a blighted ovum. However, no single hormonal level will distinguish between blighted ovum and potentially salvagable threatened abortion.
There is a significant increase in the prevalence of blighted ovum with increase maternal age and body mass index (Table 2).
Blastocyst transfer was associated with a significantly higher incidence of blighted ovum as compared with cleavage embryo transfer (11.6% vs 5.6%, P=0.000).
It contains a yolk sac (protruding from its lower part) but no embryo, even after scanning across all planes of the gestational sac, thus being diagnostic of an anembryonic gestation. A blighted ovum or anembryonic gestation is characterized by a normal-appearing gestational sac, but the absence of an embryo.
But even though a silent miscarriage has occurred, pregnancy hormones are still high. This means a pregnant person may continue to experience pregnancy symptoms such as breast tenderness, nausea, and fatigue, though possibly to a lesser extent than before.
The risk of miscarriage drops significantly as pregnancy progresses. In one study, researchers found a miscarriage rate of 9.4 percent at 6 weeks of pregnancy, 4.2 percent at 7 weeks, 1.5 percent at 8 weeks, 0.5 percent at 9 weeks and 0.7 percent at 10 weeks.
The reasons for a baby that has stopped growing at 6 weeks or is small for gestational age include: Low oxygen levels – If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or other health conditions, there may not be enough oxygen and nutrition getting to the baby through the placenta.
Medically speaking, a fetal pole isn't yet a baby. It's an embryo until about the 10th week of gestation. It then becomes a fetus and goes through fetal development until birth.
If the hCG level is high and no gestational sac is seen in the uterus, this makes it highly likely that there is an ectopic pregnancy. Checking the hCG level and then checking it again in 48 hours tells you how fast the hCG level is rising.
With a quantitative hCG level that high, you would expect to see a yolk sac already. Because the mean gestation sac measures >14 mm, and there is no visible yolk sac on the scan, it is likely that your patient has an anembryonic gestation or blighted ovum at this time.
If your healthcare provider can't see the yolk sac, it might indicate the pregnancy is not viable. That means the pregnancy won't result in a birth. But it also can mean that the estimated gestational age is wrong. Your healthcare provider may recommend another ultrasound in a week or two to look again.