Prevalence of thrombophilic factors in infertile women

PURPOSE: to establish the prevalence of thrombophilic factors in infertile women. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was performed, in which infertile women, seen in a private clinic with investigation for thrombophilia were included, according to the protocol of the clinic, between March 2003 and March 2005, after the approval of the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). One hundred and forty-four infertile women without any liver disease were evaluated. Infertility is defined as one year of unprotected sexual intercourse without conception. The acquired and/or inherited thrombophilic factors investigated were: anticardiolipin antibody (aCL), lupus anticoagulant (LA), protein C deficiency (PCD), protein S deficiency (PSD), antithrombin III deficiency (ATD), presence of the factor V Leiden, mutation G20 210A in the prothrombin gene, and C677T mutation of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). RESULTS: the prevalence values obtained for aCL and LA were 2%. The prevalence of the hereditary thrombophilic factors were: PCD=4%, PSD=6%, ATD=5%, factor V Leiden=3%, prothrombin mutation=3%, MTHFR mutation=57%. CONCLUSIONS: of the 144 patients selected, 105 women (72.9%) presented at least one thrombophilic factor. This reinforces the importance and justifies the need of investigation in this group.