Misdiagnosed miscarriage

Introduction

Merely stating a fact such asmisdiagnosed miscarriage is frightening and disappointing enough.Nevertheless, even though extremely rare, this is an occurring case.Namely, even though the most of the doctors follow perfectly plannedguidelines and use numerous advanced imaging machines, sometimes,misinterpretation of certainsigns may lead to false claims of miscarriage through wrongdiagnosis.

Possible Reasons Behind Wrong Diagnosis

It is a well known fact that ultrasoundimaging is crucial when it comes to diagnosing a pregnancy. If thepregnancy has been successful, in the early stages of it the embryogrows rapidly on a daily basis thus making the process easilynoticeable. However, in some cases, regarding women with unevenmenstrual cycles or similar misleading factors, the growth of theembryo takes more time than usually. Many experienced doctorsschedule an additional scan a week after the unsuccessful one, inorder to rule out miscarriage. Often, this has positiveresults, since the embryo is usually visible and growing after thisperiod. Unfortunately, many doctors do not take this possibility intoconsideration, labeling the first absence of the wanted ultrasoundimage as a clear case of miscarriage, thus making a terrible mistake.

Another misleading factor is thedecrease of hCG, the hormone present in the embryo and during theentire pregnancy. Most often doctors connect the decrease of thishormone with miscarriage and in a large number of cases they areright. However, sometimes, there are situations where solely thisdecrease may not be enough for a 100% sure diagnosis.

First of all, although extremelyrarely, a sudden drop of hCG may be due to twin pregnancy, where oneis in the uterus and is a successful one while the other is misplacedand vanishing thus causing the drop in the hormone levels.Additionally, in cases of pregnancy with twins, this decrease maymean that one of the two is a miscarriage while the other isperfectly healthy and developing. In both situations it is importantto conduct other tests and be careful since possible wrong diagnosesleads to pregnancy stopping procedures while there is a growing embryoinvolved.

Finally, the hCG levels drop naturallylater in pregnancy. This may also be interpreted as a sign ofmiscarriage but clearly should not. Paying attention and doing allthe possible tests and examinations in order to rule out possiblecases of miscarriage is a must for every doctor and diagnostician.Bearing in mind that mistakes and rushing into diagnosis may haveloss of a future life as a result makes it clear that all things needto be taken into consideration and only when all else fails can onemake the unfortunate diagnosis.