Increased frequencies of chromosomal abnormalities in families with a history of fetal wastage.

In twenty couples with a history of repeated fetal wastage, chromosomal abnormalities in cultured lymphocytes were analyzed with standard, G- and C-banding techniques. The analyses revealed five individuals with a variant chromosome #1 (1 qh+) and one individual with an extra small unidentifiable fragment or ring chromosome in about 50% of the cells. In the remaining 14 couples, an increased frequency of chromosomal breakage was found, compared to the frequencies in 11 couples with two children and no reported abortions. Eighteen out of 40 individuals (45%) in the families with fetal wastage were found to have cytogenetic abnormalities. None of the 22 controls showed such abnormalities.