The problem of spontaneous abortion: VII. Prematurity and spontaneous abortion☆

Abstract An inquiry into a possible relationship between spontaneous abortion and premature labor has been made. It has been shown that in 21 of 25 cases of premature birth there were pathological lesions in the placental villi; in all these cases there was agglutinating substance in the maternal serum. Smaller amounts of this substance pass through the villous epithelium into the fetal circulation. The histological and serological patterns in prematurity and spontaneous abortion are almost identical; the difference is one of degree only. It is suggested that this difference is responsible for the end result in any given case.