Whole-exome sequencing analysis on products of conception: A cohort study to evaluate clinical utility and genetic etiology for pregnancy loss

PurposePregnancy loss ranging from spontaneous abortion (SAB) to stillbirth can result from monogenic causes of Mendelian inheritance. This study evaluated the clinical application of whole exome sequencing (WES) in identifying the genetic etiology for pregnancy loss. MethodsA cohort of 102 specimens from products of conception (POC) with normal karyotype and absence of pathogenic copy number variants were selected for WES. Abnormality detection rate (ADR) and variants of diagnostic value correlated with SAB and stillbirth were evaluated. ResultsWES detected six pathogenic variants, 16 likely pathogenic variants, and 17 variants of uncertain significance favor pathogenic (VUSfp) from this cohort. The ADR for pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants was 22% and reached 35% with the inclusion of VUSfp. The ADRs of SAB and stillbirth were 36% and 33%, respectively. Affected genes included those associated with multi-system abnormalities, neurodevelopmental disorders, cardiac anomalies, skeletal dysplasia, metabolic disorders and renal diseases. ConclusionThese results supported the clinical utility of WES for detecting monogenic etiology of pregnancy loss. The identification of disease associated variants provided information for follow-up genetic counseling of recurrence risk and management of subsequent pregnancies. Discovery of novel variants could provide insight for underlying molecular mechanisms causing fetal death.