"Lupus" anticoagulant and inhibition of prostacyclin formation in patients with repeated abortion, intrauterine growth retardation and intrauterine death.

We discovered a "lupus' anticoagulant in 2 out of 42 women with a history of repeated abortions, intrauterine growth retardation and intrauterine death of unknown origin. The "lupus' anticoagulant was detected by an abnormal dilute tissue thromboplastin assay(prothrombin time performed with dilute thromboplastin). The production of prostacyclin by fresh or exhausted rings of rat aorta was decreased by the plasma of one of these two patients with a "lupus' anticoagulant. In view of the increasing evidence for a physiological role of prostacyclin in pregnancy and fetal life, we suggest that an inhibition of prostacyclin production could compromise fetal outcome.