Late termination of pregnancy: a comparison of obstetricians' experience in eight European countries.

Objective: To compare the experience and attitude of obstetricians in Europe towards late termination of pregnancy and the factors affecting their responses.

Design: Cluster sampling cross-sectional survey. All neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)-associated maternity units were recruited (census sampling) in Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Design and evaluation of a regional perinatal audit.

Objective: To describe the experiences of a regional audit of perinatal deaths, including the experiences of the audit members, to discuss similarities and differences with other, existing perinatal audits and to summarize the implications for future implementation.

Study Design: Perinatal audit with blinded regional auditors. Consecutive cases of perinatal death were analysed for the presence of substandard care.

Ethnic differences in perinatal mortality. A perinatal audit on the role of substandard care.

Objectives: The objective was to investigate the contribution of substandard care to ethnic inequalities in perinatal mortality.

Study Design: Perinatal audit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The study population consisted of 137 consecutive perinatal death cases (16 weeks GA-28 days after delivery).

The architecture of first trimester chorionic villous vascularization: a confocal laser scanning microscopical study.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate normal chorionic villous vascularization using CD31 immunofluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to elucidate the spatial arrangement in terms of connections between vessels and cords and their branching patterns compared to deficient chorionic villous vascularization in complicated pregnancies.

Methods: A descriptive morphologic study using CLSM after CD31 immunofluorescence staining of placental biopsies from normal pregnancies (n = 20), complete hydatidiform molar pregnancies (CHMs; n = 3) and empty sacs (n = 3), with a well documented gestational age (GA).

Results: In this three-dimensional study, first trimester chorionic villi were occupied by a complex network of mainly cords with redundant connections as early as 5(+5) weeks GA.