A study carried out in Salvador, Bahia, Northeastern Brazil, has shown a miscarriage rate significantly higher among AS women than that observed among AA controls. Considering this finding, we investigated the miscarriage rate among women cared for by the hemoglobinopathy program in the city of Araras, São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. The spontaneous miscarriage rate among 165 AS women (17%) was significantly higher than that observed among 500 AA women (10%) (p = 0.02). Taking into account only women with ages above 20 years, the miscarriage rate among 112 heterozygous AS (22%) greatly differed from that observed among 347 AA women (12.6%) (p = 0.01). These results confirm the greater tendency of spontaneous miscarriages among AS women, which might be related to a previously described maternal effect in relation to AS heterozygous women.
Abortion rate; Sickle cell trait; Hemoglobinopathies