Absence of Ductus Venosus: A Comparison of 2 Distinctive Fetal Autopsy Cases and Embryologic Perspectives.

In fetal circulation, oxygenated blood from the placenta flows through the umbilical vein into the ductus venosus (DV), then enters the inferior vena cava, and subsequently reaches the right atrium of the heart. The DV serves as a shunt, allowing this oxygen-rich blood to bypass the liver. The absence of the DV (ADV), also known as agenesis of the DV, is a rare congenital anomaly.

Maturation of metastases in peripheral neuroblastic tumors (neuroblastoma) of children.

Peripheral neuroblastic tumors of childhood exhibit 3 principal neural crest lineages: primitive neuroblastoma, ganglioneuroblastoma, and ganglioneuroma. They are unique in undergoing maturation of neurons (ganglion cells) and Schwann cells, thereby recapitulating normal fetal neuronal development in the brain. Precision in estimating neurogenesis is enhanced by immunoreactivities of markers of neuronal maturation.

Congenital SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Two Neonates with Confirmation by Viral Culture of the Placenta in One Case.

Congenital infections with SARS-CoV-2 are uncommon. We describe two confirmed congenital SARS-CoV-2 infections using descriptive, epidemiologic and standard laboratory methods and in one case, viral culture. Clinical data were obtained from health records.

C4d Staining Is Present in Normal Placentas From Pregnancies Prior to Pregnancy Loss Associated With Chronic Histiocytic Intervillositis and Is Reduced by Immunomodulatory Therapy in Subsequent Pregnancies.

Introduction: Chronic histiocytic intervillositis (CHI) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and high recurrence risk. Recent studies suggest that CHI may represent a host-vs-graft rejection, and that C4d immunostain can be used as a marker for complement activation and antibody-mediated rejection in the CHI.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study focused on 5 fetal autopsy cases associated with CHI (5 index cases) from 5 women.

Obstructed Hemivagina and Ipsilateral Renal Anomaly (OHVIRA) - A Fetal Autopsy Case.

Background: Obstructed hemivagina and ipsilateral renal anomaly (OHVIRA) is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by uterus didelphys, unilateral obstructed hemivagina, and ipsilateral renal anomaly.

Case: Autopsy performed on a third trimester stillborn fetus unexpectedly revealed uterine didelphys, an obstructed left hemivagina, and a left pelvic, atrophic, duplex kidney, with both left ureters entering the obstructed left hemivagina. Furthermore, the fetus had an imperforate anus, a single right umbilical artery, and spina bifida occulta.

Recurrence risk of villitis of unknown etiology: Analysis of a large retrospective cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Recurrence risk of villitis of unknown etiology (VUE) remains uncertain because of few studies and their methodologic limitations. We calculated recurrence risk in a large population of deliveries after minimizing important biases and compared it to others via systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: Over 11 years of placenta pathology reports on singleton deliveries were retrieved and searched for 'villitis' or 'VUE'.

Massive ascites and severe pulmonary hypoplasia in a premature infant with meconium peritonitis and congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

Meconium peritonitis (MP) is an infrequent prenatal complication. Association between MP and pulmonary hypoplasia has never been reported. A female infant with antenatally diagnosed MP and ascites was delivered at 36 gestational weeks.

Atypical Prenatal Ultrasound Presentation and Neuropathological Findings in a Neonate With Alpha Thalassemia Major: A Case Report.

Alpha thalassemia major is a hemoglobinopathy caused by the inactivation or deletion of all 4 α-globin alleles. We describe a case of α-thalassemia major with atypical ultrasound and neuropathological findings. The mother had her first prenatal visit at 27 4/7 gestational weeks.

Pulmonary effects of i.v. injection of crushed oral tablets: "excipient lung disease".

Objective: When crushed oral tablets are injected i.v., their filler material (excipient) can induce a potentially fatal foreign-body reaction in pulmonary arterioles, presenting as dyspnea and pulmonary hypertension with centrilobular nodules on CT.

Liver failure due to hepatic angiosarcoma in an adolescent with dyskeratosis congenita.

Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is a multisystem disease caused by genetic mutations that result in defective telomere maintenance. Herein, we describe a 17-year-old patient with severe DC, manifested by bone marrow failure, severe immunodeficiency, and enterocolitis requiring prolonged infliximab therapy, who developed fatal hepatic failure caused by an aggressive, infiltrating hepatic angiosarcoma. Although DC patients have known increased risk of developing liver failure and multiple types of malignancy, this report is the first to describe angiosarcoma in a DC patient.

Immunohistochemical expression of glypican-3 in pediatric tumors: an analysis of 414 cases.

Glypican-3 (GPC3) is a proteoglycan thought to play an important role during development. Germline GPC3 mutations are seen in the rare Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS), which predisposes patients to Wilms tumor, hepatoblastoma, and neuroblastoma. While numerous adult tumors have been evaluated by immunohistochemistry for GPC3, no comprehensive assessment has been done in pediatric tumors.

PDX-1, CDX-2, TTF-1, and CK7: a reliable immunohistochemical panel for pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) occur in virtually all sites of the body. As NETs arising in different organs share similar morphologic features, distinguishing metastatic from primary NETs on the basis of morphologic grounds alone is difficult. Pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX-1) is a Hox-type transcription factor that is essential for both exocrine and endocrine pancreatic differentiation and maintenance of β-cell function.

The use of immunohistochemistry in liver tumors.

A variety of benign and malignant neoplasms can be encountered in the liver. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections alone may not yield sufficient information to definitively diagnose liver tumors; therefore, ancillary studies with immunohistochemical markers can play a crucial role in differentiating the different hepatic neoplasms. The recent development of oncofetoprotein glypican-3 has added to the value of immunohistochemistry in diagnosing liver cancer.