The miscarriage events unfortunately are not rare. While hormonal, immunological, uterine and chromosomal alterations are considered as possible causes of recurrent miscarriages, recent stud- ies point to a new direction: the genetics of the blood coagulation factors. Women afflicted by he- reditary thrombophilia, excessive coagulation caused by a genetic abnormality, are the category most at risk of abortion. In most cases the fetus death is caused by genetic alteration of one or more blood coagulation factors that provoke a placental thrombosis, characterized by an obstruc- tion of placental blood vessels. When a venous or arterial thrombotic event takes place the blood flow stops. The clot is called thrombus. The genes, now known, of susceptibility to the thrombosis are genetic variants showing such a frequency to be considered as polymorphic variants. The genes taken to consideration are the ones related to factor V of Leiden, factor II of coagulation, β- Fibrinogen, PAI, AGT and MTHFR.
In pregnancy, a condition of heretozygosity or homozygosis for one or more of these genes is con- sidered predisposing to spontaneous miscarriage. The study of the genetic variants of these three genes is suggested for subjects with previous episodes of venous thromoebolism or arterial throm- bosis, women who are intended to assume oral contraception, women with previous thrombosis during the pregnancy, women with recurrent miscarriage, women who gave birth to children af- fected by NTD (Neural Tube Defects), pregnant women with IUGR, thrombophlebitis or placental thrombosis and diabetic subjects.
