Abstract
Objective. - To assess the potential availability and utility of fetal tissues obtained from spontaneous abortions and from ectopic pregnancies for human transplantation therapy. Design. - Tissue collection and analysis by personnel skilled in tissue banking. Setting. - Procurement programs in five tissue banks located in diverse geographical areas that are funded by the National Institutes of Health. Patients. - All women entering obstetric clinics during 1993 who consented to participate in the study. Interventions. - None. Main Outcome Measures. - Evaluation of the products of conception by standard developmental, histological, microbiological, and cytogenetic criteria. Results. - From 22 235 obstetric admissions, 1250 spontaneously aborted embryos and 247 products of ectopic pregnancies were obtained. Of these, seven embryos (0.5%) were potentially useful for human transplantation therapy. Conclusion. - Fetal tissues from spontaneous abortions and from ectopic pregnancies are quite limited as feasible sources for human transplantation therapy.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 66-68 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Journal of the American Medical Association |
| Volume | 273 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| State | Published - 1995 |