First trimester threatened miscarriage treatment with human chorionic gonadotrophins: a randomised controlled trial

Objective  To determine whether administration of exogenous human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) treatment improve the pregnancy outcome in first trimester threatened miscarriages. Design  A prospective, double blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Setting  The Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit, Royal Bolton Hospital, Bolton, United Kingdom. Population  One hundred and eighty-three women with vaginal bleeding and a viable fetus seen on ultrasound scan (USS) in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Methods  The patients were randomised to receive either hCG or placebo treatment until 14 weeks of gestation. Main outcome measures  The primary objective of the trial was to determine the miscarriage rate in the hCG arm compared from the placebo arm. Results  Of the 183 cases, 87 were randomised to treatment with hCG while 96 were randomised to receive a placebo. Forty-seven (25%) did not comply with the study protocol. The mean [SD] gestational age at presentation was 7 [1.33] weeks. The mean [SD] age of women in study was 27 [5] years in the placebo and 28 [5] in the hCG group. The mean body mass index (kg/m2) was 25 [5] in the study. The number of patients actively bleeding per vaginum at presentation was 85 (93%) in placebo group and 79 (96%) in the hCG group. The median number of hCG or placebo injections for both groups was 7. Ten women (11%) in the placebo group proceeded to have a complete miscarriage, as did 10 women (12%) in the hCG group, relative risk (RR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] of 1.1 (0.63–1.6). Conclusion  Our study showed no evidence of a difference in the outcome of threatened miscarriages when treated with hCG in the first trimester, this may be because our study sample size was small and follow up was suboptimal. A large, randomised, multicentre trial is still needed to establish the usefulness of hCG treatment in cases of threatened miscarriage.