Induced abortion and secondary infertility.

The role of induced (and spontaneous) abortions in the aetiology of secondary sterility was investigated. Obstetric and gynaecologic histories were obtained from 100 women with secondary infertility admitted to the First Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Athens Medical School and to the Division of Fertility and Sterility of that Department. For every patient, an attempt was made to find two healthy control subjects from the same hospital with matching for age, parity, and level of education. Two control subjects each were found for 83 of the index patinets. The relative risk of secondary infertility among women with at least one induced abortion and no spontaneous abortions was 3.4 times that among women without any induced or spontaneous abortions (95 per cent confidence interval 1.38-8.37). The relationship was statistically significant and indicated that in Greece, about 45 per cent of the cases of secondary infertility may be attributable to previous induced abortions.