Analysis of biochemical and fetal arrest causes

If the embryo stops developing, it means that the pregnancy has been terminated. There are actually many reasons for this situation, such as endocrine disorders, immune factors, uterine abnormalities, etc. Various factors may cause the fetus to stop developing. Pregnant mothers should do relevant examinations and work to understand the condition of themselves and the fetus in a timely manner.

Reasons why embryonic development stops

1. Endocrine disorders

During the early development of the embryo, three important hormone levels are required, namely estrogen, progesterone, and human chorionic gonadotropin. As for the mother, if the endocrine system is out of balance, resulting in insufficient endogenous hormones, the needs of the embryo cannot be met, which may cause embryonic arrest and miscarriage.

2. Immune factors

The embryo or fetus in the uterus is actually an allogeneic transplant because the fetus is a combination of the genetic material of the parents and cannot be exactly the same as the mother. If there is immune incompatibility between mother and fetus, it may cause the mother to reject the fetus.

3. Uterine abnormalities

Both the internal environment of the uterus and the overall environment of the uterus may have an impact on embryonic development. The internal environment is the endometrium. If it is too thin or too thick, it will affect implantation. The external environment refers to abnormal uterine development, such as a single uterus, a double uterus, and a bicornuate uterus resulting in a narrow uterine cavity. This is often due to the smaller uterine cavity than normal, which leads to abnormal embryonic development when the embryo develops to a certain number of months.

4. Chromosome problems

Chromosome abnormalities include quantitative and structural abnormalities. Quantitative abnormalities can be divided into aneuploidy and polyploidy. The most common abnormal karyotype is triploidy, and trisomy 16 accounts for 1/3 and is often lethal. Current research on chromosomes believes that chromosomes pair, exchange and separate to form gametes, and gametes combine to form zygotes. If the zygote is abnormal, it will not develop normally, which may lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, or deformed baby.

5. Reproductive tract infection

Severe reproductive tract infection in early pregnancy can cause fetal death or miscarriage, and milder infections can also cause fetal malformations. Studies in recent years have shown that mycoplasma infection is related to embryonic arrest, and the positive rate of mycoplasma infection in cervical secretions of women with embryonic arrest is significantly higher than that of normal women, and the difference is extremely significant.

6. Environmental factors

Environmental factors can directly act on the central nervous system endocrine regulation system, causing reproductive hormone secretion disorders, decreased fertility and abnormal embryonic development. These include physical factors such as X-rays, microwaves, noise, ultrasound, high temperature, and heavy metals such as aluminum, lead, mercury, and zinc that affect the implantation of fertilized eggs or directly damage the embryo and cause miscarriage. And bad living habits such as smoking, alcoholism, coffee, drugs, and certain medications all affect early embryonic development.

Note: Once embryonic arrest occurs, the cause should be found. Without a clear diagnosis, treatment will be impossible. It is difficult to avoid the problem of embryo arrest from happening again. The items that need to be checked include: six items of reproductive hormones, five items of eugenics, antisperm antibodies, antiphospholipid antibodies, anti-chorionic gonadotropin antibodies, Chlamydia trachomatis, sperm quality, egg development, chromosomes, etc. The examination items for men include: general andrological examination, sperm analysis, six items of reproductive hormones, immune antibodies, and chromosome waiting. Before the cause of the disease is determined, it is not advisable to get pregnant again to avoid causing another fetal arrest.

Symptoms of embryonic arrest

1. 6-8 weeks after pregnancy, once you feel that the pregnancy reactions are gradually reducing, such as no more nausea, vomiting and other early pregnancy reactions disappear.

2. When the feeling of breast swelling weakens, you should be alert, as these phenomena can be regarded as early symptoms of fetal growth retardation.

3. Some patients have vaginal bleeding accompanied by dark red bloody leucorrhea, and some patients have lower abdominal pain. They should go to the hospital for examination immediately.

4. The symptoms of embryonic arrest vary from person to person. Some may not even show any signs, but may just experience abdominal pain and then miscarriage, or the embryo may be asymptomatic and discovered through routine B-ultrasound examination.

5. The ultrasound diagnostic criteria for fetal growth retardation are: there is no gestational sac for ≥6 weeks of embryo development, or there is a gestational sac but it is deformed and wrinkled; when the gestational sac is ≥4cm but no fetal bud is seen, and the head and arm length of the fetal bud is ≥1.5cm but there is no fetal heart beat, it can be determined that the embryo is developing abnormally.

Note: Although some people can have a complete miscarriage on their own after fetal growth retardation and do not need a curettage surgery, this situation is very rare. For most women, doctors recommend hospitalization for curettage after fetal growth retardation. Because fetal growth retardation is likely to cause heavy bleeding after the operation, they must be hospitalized for observation for a period of time.