What are the risks for couples with a balanced structural chromosome abnormality?
Couples found to be carrying a balanced structural chromosomal abnormality after two or more miscarriages are at low risk of having a viable offspring with unbalanced chromosomal abnormalities (that is, with major congenital defects). In a case-control study of 278 carrier couples and 427 non-carrier couples who had had two or more miscarriages, Franssen and colleagues (p 759) looked at reproductive outcomes over at least 24 months. The carrier couples’ chances of having a healthy child were as high as those of the non-carrier couples, but they had a higher risk of miscarriages.
