Genetic control of susceptibility to eclampsia and miscarriage.

An analysis has been made of 48 pedigrees selected (ascertained) through an affected mother in the first generation. These pedigrees mainly involve cases of eclampsia which occurred before its recent decline in incidence. The data confirm the genetic determination of susceptibility indicated by published data on eclampsia/preeclampsia. There is a suggestion that the fetal genotype can contribute to susceptibility to eclampsia in its mother, in contrast to previous findings that susceptibility to pre-eclampsia is controlled solely by the maternal genotype. An association between eclampsia and miscarriage is shown in the data. We argue that this suggests that the primary mode of action of the gene(s) involved is to affect the interaction between uterine and placental tissue.