For the first time, a specific link has been found between spontaneous abortion and risk of coronary heart disease in later life, according to researchers in this week's issue of the British Medical Journal.

A team of researchers led by Professor Gordon Smith, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, analysed national data on births in Scotland during 1981-5 and deaths or hospital admissions due to coronary heart disease during 1981-99.

They found that women with a history of spontaneous loss of early pregnancy were at increased risk of coronary heart disease. By contrast, there was no association between therapeutic abortion and subsequent risk of coronary heart disease.

The research team believes that this is the first study to show a specific association between spontaneous abortion and maternal risk of coronary heart disease.

However, further studies are required to corroborate these findings and confirm that the association is independent of smoking and other factors, such as maternal disease (for example, diabetes and polycystic ovarian syndrome).

‘Spontaneous loss of early pregnancy and risk of ischaemic heart disease in later life: retrospective cohort study’ by G Smith, J Pell and D Walsh is published in BMJ 2003; 326; 423-424.

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