Blighted ovum or empty pregnancy is a pregnancy that does not contain an embryo. In the medical world, blighted ovum also known as anembryonic gestation. This condition is one of the causes of miscarriage in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Blighted ovum usually due to chromosomal abnormalities. Chromosomal abnormalities can be caused by imperfect cell division and poor quality of eggs and sperm. In an empty pregnancy, fertilization (the meeting of the egg and sperm cells) still occurs, but the result of this fertilization does not develop into an embryo.
Blighted ovum It can be characterized by abdominal pain to bleeding. Empty pregnancy is often only known after an ultrasound. This is because the symptoms commonly felt during pregnancy, such as nausea, vomiting, test pack positive, breasts that feel harder, can also be felt by pregnant women who experience blighted ovum.
Causes of Blighted Ovum
Reason blighted ovum cannot be known with certainty. However, this condition generally occurs due to chromosomal abnormalities in the egg. As a result, the process of cell division becomes imperfect.
In this condition, fertilization does not produce an embryo and stops developing. Then the body will stop the pregnancy process. When experiencing blighted ovum, then the pregnancy can no longer be maintained.
There are several factors that can increase the risk of blighted ovum, that is:
- Egg quality
- Sperm quality
- Genetics, especially if the husband and wife are closely related
Symptoms of Blighted Ovum
In normal pregnancy conditions, an egg cell that has been fertilized by a sperm cell will undergo cell division. About 10 days later, some of these cells will form an embryo and implant into the uterine wall, while some will form the placenta and gestational sac.
Blighted ovum occurs when the formation of this embryo fails to occur or when the embryo stops developing. This condition may not cause any symptoms. In some cases, blighted ovum can be characterized by the appearance of symptoms of miscarriage.
Someone who experienced blighted ovum or an empty pregnancy in the early stages will generally feel that he is experiencing a normal pregnancy. Some of the symptoms and signs of a normal pregnancy that can also appear during an empty pregnancy include:
- Late period
- Positive pregnancy test result
- Nauseous
- Throw up
- Breasts feel hard and painful
After a certain period of time, the patient will begin to feel the symptoms of a miscarriage, such as:
- Spots or bleeding from the vagina
- Cramps and stomach pain
- The volume of blood that comes out of the vagina is increasing
Sometimes, a pregnancy test still gives a positive result in this condition because of the level of the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) still high. The hormone hCG is a hormone that increases during early pregnancy. This hormone is produced by the placenta and can remain or increase in levels in early pregnancy even though the embryo is not developing.
Symptoms of miscarriage due to blighted ovum It usually appears in the first three months of pregnancy (first trimester) or between the 8th and 13th weeks of gestation. In many cases, this condition occurs in the early stages of pregnancy. As a result, miscarriage can occur before the sufferer realizes that he is pregnant.
When to go to the doctor
When you are pregnant, it is recommended that you have regular prenatal checkups. The following is a recommended inspection schedule:
- First trimester (4th to 28th week): Once a month
- Second trimester (28 to 36 weeks): every 2 weeks
- Third trimester (36 to 40 weeks): Once a week
Call your doctor immediately if you experience any of the symptoms listed above. Bleeding in the first trimester does not always indicate a miscarriage. Therefore, an examination needs to be done to determine the cause and proper treatment.
Checks also need to be done if you have had an empty pregnancy in a previous pregnancy and want to plan a pregnancy. This needs to be done to prevent the recurrence of the same condition.
Diagnosis of Blighted Ovum
To diagnose blighted ovum, the doctor will ask questions related to the complaints and symptoms experienced by the patient. The doctor will also perform an examination of the patient's abdomen.
In addition, the doctor will perform a pregnancy ultrasound to determine whether the gestational sac that has formed contains an embryo or not. This examination is usually done in the 6th week of pregnancy, when the embryo can be seen.
Blighted Ovum Treatment
Blighted ovum It is very rare for recurrence in subsequent pregnancies. When experiencing an empty pregnancy, the pregnancy cannot be maintained. Patients who experience blighted ovum can still get pregnant well in the next pregnancy.
There are several methods of treatment that can be used to treat blighted ovum. The method will be determined based on gestational age, medical history, as well as the patient's mental health condition. Here is the explanation:
Curette
Dilation and curettage (curettage) is performed by opening the cervix and then removing the empty gestational sac from the uterus. This procedure can also be done to determine the cause of the miscarriage, by examining the tissue removed in the laboratory.
Drugs
Medications, such as misoprostol, may also be used as a treatment option. Both curettes and drugs can cause side effects in the form of pain or abdominal cramps. When compared with curettage, the use of drugs can cause heavier bleeding in the patient.
In addition to the two treatment methods above, patients can choose to let the uterus fall naturally. Usually this process will happen by itself in a matter of weeks.
Although allowed to occur naturally, this process must still be supervised by a doctor to ensure that no residual pregnancy tissue is left in the uterus.
Complications of Blighted Ovum
If the pregnancy tissue is not completely expelled from the uterus, an infection in the uterus or a septic miscarriage may occur.
Prevention of Blighted Ovum
In most of the cases, blighted ovum cannot be prevented. Regular check-ups to the doctor during pregnancy are the best way to monitor the condition of the mother and fetus.
However, there are several tests that can be done to find out if there are factors that can increase the risk of developing it blighted ovum, that is:
- Pre-implantation genetic examination (PGT), to check the genetics of the embryo before implantation of the embryo into the uterus
- Sperm analysis, to check sperm quality
- FSH hormone test (follicle stimulating hormone) or AHM hormone test (anti-mullerian hormone), to measure the levels of these two hormones in the body, so that it can be used as a reference whether or not action is needed to improve the quality of egg cells
Although there are no factors that can increase the risk of blighted ovumIt is recommended that you continue to have regular prenatal visits to the doctor according to the schedule recommended by the doctor to monitor the health of the mother and fetus.
Most women who have experienced blighted ovum can stay pregnant well in future pregnancies. After experiencing a miscarriage, mothers are advised to wait 1-3 normal menstrual cycles before planning another pregnancy.