Volume 25 Issue 1

Placental Pathology in Neonatal Encephalopathy: A Case–Control Study

Thanzir Mohammed, Ravichandra Kothur Rangegowda, Lakshmi Mulinja, Shilpa Krishnapura Lakshminarayana

Abstract

Background: The etiology of neonatal encephalopathy (NE) varies and remains unknown in several cases.

Aims: To compare and correlate placental findings in neonates with perinatal asphyxia (PA) and those with normal outcomes

Materials and Methods: Neonates with PA who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and neonates with normal outcomes were included in the study as the case group and control group, respectively. Prenatal, intrapartum, and neonatal data were collected. Placental specimens were sent for gross and microscopic examination after fixing in formalin.

Results: A total of 100 neonates were included in the study, of which, 53 neonates had PA (case group) and 47 neonates were born with normal outcomes (control group). Significant differences in pathologic changes such as chorioamnionitis, funisitis, infarction, intervillous hemorrhage, fetal vascular malperfusion, and maternal vascular malperfusion were analyzed in the placentae of the neonates in the case and the control groups.

Conclusion: NE is a multifactorial process. The prenatal and intrapartum risk factors of PA along with placental abnormalities act synergistically to increase the risk of PA, which in turn results in NE.

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