Hello and welcome to the zero to finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about miscarriage.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash miscarriage

or in the early pregnancy section of the zero to finals obstetrics and gynecology book.

So let's get straight into it.

Miscarriage is the spontaneous termination of a pregnancy.

Early miscarriage is before 12 weeks of gestation

and late miscarriage is between 12 and 24 weeks of gestation.

Let's start with some definitions.

There are several definitions to remember relating to miscarriage.

A missed miscarriage is when the fetus is no longer alive, but no symptoms have occurred to indicate a

miscarriage.

A threatened miscarriage is when there's vaginal bleeding,

but a closed cervix and the fetus remains alive.

An inevitable miscarriage is when there's vaginal bleeding with an open cervix.

An incomplete miscarriage is when there's retained products of conception that remain in the

uterus after the miscarriage has taken place. A complete miscarriage is when a full miscarriage has

occurred and there are no products of conception left in the uterus. And finally, an anembrionic pregnancy is when a gestational sack is present,

but there's no embryo inside the gestational sac. Let's talk about ultrasound scan findings. A transvaginal

ultrasound scan is the investigation of choice for diagnosing a miscarriage.

There are nice guidelines from 2019 and local protocols for diagnosing a miscarriage on an ultrasound scan and always check the local and national guidelines when you're managing patients.

There are three key features that the sonographer will look for in an early pregnancy on an

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