The Relationship of Intrauterine Growth Restriction with Placental Pathologic Changes in Newborns

Abstract

Introduction: Intrauterine growth restriction is a multifaceted problem and is associated with a significant increase in the level of morbidity and perinatal mortality. According to some studies, failure of the placenta is responsible for the most cases of intrauterine growth restriction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the placental pathologic changes in the intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) samples and compare them with normal cases.

Methods: A study population consisted of 60 intrauterine growth restriction neonates and 60 normalized neonates born at Tehran Imam Khomeini Hospital between June 2016 and July 2017. The placenta was weighed, immediately after delivery, and the umbilical cord was separated, then stored in 10% formalin and sent for pathological examination as soon as possible. Data collection was performed according to the following items: the pathologist's report, the results of the infants' examination, and the data in the neonatal cases.

Results: The intrauterine growth restriction group showed a high frequency of placenta infarction (P < 0.001), inflammation of the villous (P < 0.001), villous fibrosis (P = 0.044), villous vascularization disorder (P = 0.001), prevalence of chorioamnionitis (P = 0.027), prevalence of Syncytiotrophoblastic knots (P < 0.001) and placental necrosis (P = 0.048) than normal group. However, the mean weight of the placenta (P < 0.001), the length and width of the macroscopic placenta changes was less (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: The results of the current study showed that a major part of the macroscopic and histological changes are detectable in the intrauterine growth restriction samples, which are considerably more common than normal, although they are not pathognomonic, but in the future, more accurate results can be obtained from more extensive studies.