Publication:

Comparative study between histological changes in placenta from pre-eclampsia cases and normal pregnancy with special reference to cytotrophoblastic cell hyperplasia, villous stromal fibrosis and fibrinoid necrosis

Background Placenta is a vital organ and the most accurate record of the infant’s prenatal experience. Pregnancy complications like hypertension significantly affect the placenta. Thus there is a need for thorough examination of it. Therefore the present study is dedicated to see the histological changes in placenta of pre-eclampsia with special reference to cytotrophoblastic cell hyperplasia, villous stromal fibrosis and fibrinoid necrosis and compared it with that of normal placenta.

Methods Total 60 placentas were collected (30 from pre-eclampsia and 30 from normal pregnancy). Results were expressed in percentage after counting 100 villi. Data analysis has been done using Graphpad InStat 3 version and data is significant when p – value is <0.05.

Results Mean no. of cytotrophoblastic cell hyperplasia, villous stromal fibrosis and fibrinoid necrosis in normal placenta are 10.1±5.01, 2.26±1.56 and 2.84±1.4 respectively and those in pre-eclampsia placenta are 36.82±16.15, 28.16± 34.42 and 8.22±1.44 respectively which are highly significant ( p-value <0.001).

Conclusions There is significant increase in number of cytotrophoblastic cell hyperplasia, villous stromal fibrosis and areas fibrinoid necrosis in placenta from pre-eclampsia cases than that of normal placenta. These changes may be due to vascular insufficiency which is usually occurring in pre-eclampsia.