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Jorge Lima: Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Affects 1% of Women, Yet 37% of Cases Remain Unexplained
Jorge Lima/LinkedIn
Apr 18, 2026, 14:17

Jorge Lima: Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Affects 1% of Women, Yet 37% of Cases Remain Unexplained

Jorge Lima, Professor Auxiliar Convidado at NOVA Medical School, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Now published: Systematic review and meta-analysis on recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL)

I’m pleased to share our recent publication examining the overall prevalence of recurrent pregnancy loss and the distribution of its major etiological categories.
Despite its clinical and emotional impact, robust data on how common RPL truly is, and how its causes are distributed, have remained surprisingly limited and heterogeneous.
In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 105 studies and nearly 48,000 women with RPL:

  • The estimated population-based prevalence of RPL was approximately 1%, although based on very limited data
  • The largest proportion of cases remains unexplained (37%)
  • Other major categories included:
  • Acquired thrombophilia (12%)
  • Endocrine factors (8%)
  • Anatomical factors and hereditary thrombophilia (6%)Our findings highlight substantial between-study heterogeneity, partly driven by geographic, demographic, and temporal factors.

Importantly, this work underscores a key issue in reproductive medicine:

  • A significant proportion of RPL cases still lack a clear etiological explanation
  • There is an urgent need for standardized definitions, diagnostic approaches, and reporting frameworks
    To our knowledge, this is among the first meta-analytical syntheses focusing specifically on the prevalence of RPL alongside its etiological distribution, addressing a major gap in the literature.

Grateful to all co-authors for their collaboration:
Tiago Pereira Carvalho, Miguel Dias, Filipa Moutinho, Sofia Serra, Teresa Costa, João Paulo Martins, Gonçalo Duarte

Read the full article.”

Title: Recurrent pregnancy loss: systematic review and meta-analysis of overall prevalence and the distribution of major etiological categories

Authors: Tiago Carvalho, Miguel Ângelo-Dias, Filipa Moutinho, Sofia Silvério Serra, Teresa Costa, João Paulo Martins, Gonçalo S. Duarte, Jorge Lima

 

Jorge Lima: Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Affects 1% of Women, Yet 37% of Cases Remain Unexplained

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Acquired thrombophilia Anatomical factors diagnostic approaches Emotional Impact Endocrine Factors etiological categories etiological explanation Fertility Fertility News Filipa Moutinho Gonçalo Duarte hereditary thrombophilia heterogeneous João Paulo Martins Jorge Lima major categories meta-analysis Miguel Dias population-based prevalence Recurrent Pregnancy Loss reporting frameworks reproductive health Reproductive Medicine RPL RPL cases Sofia Serra standardized definitions Systematic Review Teresa Costa Tiago Pereira Carvalho
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