Publication:

Placental pathology in intra: uterine foetal deaths

Background Intra-uterine foetal death (IUFD) is an agonizing and often unpredictable event. Most of the times, placental lesions are direct cause of perinatal morbidity and has an impact on management of further pregnancies. The objective of this study was to diagnose lesions of placenta in intra-uterine foetal deaths and to evaluate placental causes of intra-uterine foetal deaths.

Methods A retrospective study of 65 cases of IUFD within a period of 5 years from January 2007 to December 2011 was carried out in our institute.

Results Amongst 65 cases of IUFD, in 50 cases (77%) the cause of death was directly related to placenta while in 2 cases (3%) the cause was related to foetal abnormality. In 9 cases (13.8%) lesions of placenta were not directly leading to IUFD while unexplained causes were noted in 4 cases (6%).

Conclusions Placental examination plays a vital role in evaluating cause of IUFD.