Chromosomal abnormalities in 163 Tunisian couples with recurrent miscarriages

Recurrent miscarriage (RM) is defined as three or more consecutive pregnancy losses before 24 weeks of gestation. Parental chromosomal abnormalities represent an important etiology of RM. The aim of the present study was to identify the distribution of chromosome abnormalities among Tunisian couples with RM referred to the Department of Cytogenetic at the Pasteur Institute of Tunis (Tunisia) during the last five years. Standard cytogenetic analysis was carried out in a total of 163 couples presenting with two or more spontaneous abortions. Karyotypes were analyzed by R-banding. We identified 14 chromosomal abnormalities including autosomal reciprocal translocation, Robertsonian translocation, inversion, mosaic aneuploidy and heteromorphysm. The overall prevalence of chromosomal abnormalities was 8.5% in our cohort. This finding underlies the importance of cytogenetic investigations in the routine management of RM.