Effect of preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy on pregnancy outcomes of patients with recurrent miscarriage: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Miscarriage is a common complication of pregnancy, and it is defined as spontaneous pregnancy loss before the fetus reaches viability. However, there are no clear pathological factors identified as causes of recurrent miscarriage in some cases. Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) has been shown to have some advantages in the live birth rate in limited populations with a favorable prognosis. Hence, we investigated whether PGT-A improves pregnancy outcomes in patients with recurrent pregnancy loss. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study including patients with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss from December 2021 to June 2022 receiving assisted reproduction therapy in the first medical center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital. The patients were divided into PGT-A and non-PGT-A groups, and we compared the pregnancy outcomes between the PGT-A and non-PGT-A groups. RESULTS: PGT-A significantly increased the clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer (ET) (58.7 vs. 32.3%, p = 0.023) and live birth rate per ET (50.0 vs. 25.8%, p = 0.034). However, there were no differences in biochemical pregnancy rates per ET (69.6 vs. 51.6%, P = 0.111), biochemical pregnancy loss rates (15.6 vs. 37.5%, p = 0.089), and miscarriage rate per clinical pregnancy (11.5 vs. 20.0%, p = 0.511) between the PGT-A and non-PGT-A groups. CONCLUSIONS: PGT-A was associated with significant improvements in clinical pregnancy and live birth rates in patients with recurrent pregnancy loss. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200056991 http//www.chictr.org.cn/). Registration Date 20,220,225.