ULTRASONOGRAPHY EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF EARLY GESTATIONAL MISCARRIAGE IN A RESOURCE CONSTRAINED COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN SUBREGION

Sonographic evaluation plays a great role in determining the findings in early gestational miscarriage. The aim of this study was to access the occurrence of early gestational miscarriage, the sonographic findings and relationship between age and the sonographic findings in the study group. This is a quantitative retrospective cross-sectional study. A total of 285 ultrasound reports of female patients were certified to have early gestational miscarriage for a period of three years in Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Wave Radio-Diagnostic Center and Life Specialist Hospital in Nnewi Urban, Anambra State, Nigeria were studied. The data were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 21.0. Statistical significance was considered at <0.05. The result showed that early gestational miscarriage was (15.01%). The sonographic findings were a significant factor of early gestational miscarriage (p = 0.001). Early miscarriage was common among age group 26-30 years (33.7%). The maternal age was not significantly associated with the sonographic findings (P = 0.512). Crown rump length were more common in the ultrasound findings of women who were diagnosed with early gestational miscarriage. The prevailing age group was 26 – 30 years being the prevailing age group. Therefore, ultrasound should always be seen as the first line when it comes to uterine pregnancy, because it is cheap, does not use radiation and has high sensitivity in detecting early miscarriage.