Incidence of Early Loss of Pregnancy

Abstract

To the Editor: In an editorial in the July 28 issue, Little¹ reviews previous estimates of total pregnancy loss of 60 to 78 percent. He uses the newly released study of Wilcox et al.² to conclude that about 52 percent of fertilizations result in loss before the 28th week of gestation and that "all but 6 percent of this 52 percent occurs before an abortion is recognized clinically." The derivation of these figures is unclear.Little suggests that about 15 percent of fertilized ova are lost before implantation, leaving 85 percent of fertilized eggs to be implanted and detected by . . .