INSTITUTE
OF GENETICS & CYTOLOGY

The problem of pregnancy loss is getting more and more acute. According to the WHO data, from 10 to 25% of pregnancies fail. Very often doctors cannot determine the reasons for pregnancy loss. This occurs where the cause of pathology is hereditary thrombophilia characterized by an increased thrombosis propensity. A genetic predisposition to thrombophilia is associated with an increased risk of complications during pregnancy (habitual miscarriage, placental insufficiency, fetal growth restriction, late toxicosis etc.). The genetic risk of thrombophilia is often expressed only under additional conditions, and pregnancy is one of them. In this case, clinical and biochemical pre-pregnancy tests do not reveal abnormalities from the norm, but during the development of pregnancy, microthrombi are formed in the placenta, and a spontaneous miscarriage or a frozen pregnancy occurs. In this regard, DNA analysis of risk genes can establish the causes of pregnancy abnormalities in each particular case.

The scientists of the Institute of Genetics and Cytology, NAS of Belarus, have developed a quantitative estimation technique that allows establishing a predisposition to pregnancy complications, and now there is a chance to determine how many times the pregnancy loss risk is increased (where it is increased). It plays a huge role in the prevention of pathology development allowing medical personnel to identify the necessary amount of individual therapeutic assistance to ensure  necessary conditions for the successful bearing and birth of a child.