What is the value of neonatal autopsy? Pathological and clinical correlation in 135 cases.

Introduction: Neonatal autopsy is a valuable, critical diagnostic method to provide genetic counseling for future pregnancies.

Population And Methods: Retrospective study including all neonatal autopsies performed on deceased neonates at Clínica y Maternidad Suizo Argentina between January 1998 and December 2006. The rate of autopsies was established; the diagnosis indicated in the medical record was compared to autopsy findings.

Single umbilical artery and associated malformations in over 5500 autopsies: relevance for perinatal management.

With a birth prevalence rate of about 1%, single umbilical artery (SUA) is the most frequent of all congenital anomalies. It is recognizably associated with a variety of birth defects, but disagreement exists as to whether a SUA can predict an adverse perinatal outcome; disagreement also exists related to if, when present, other birth defects should be ruled out. The aims of the study were to estimate the association between SUA and other birth defects in a series of perinatal autopsies, to establish if preferential associations between SUA and certain birth defects exist, and to quantify the risks for other birth defects when a SUA is diagnosed.

Second-trimester histopathological placental findings in maternal-fetal inflammatory response syndrome.

Immature delivery is frequently associated with a maternal-fetal inflammatory response at the placental level. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence, staging, and grading of histological findings (associated with acute maternal-fetal inflammatory response syndrome) in placentas of immature fetuses and to establish the relationship between maternal and fetal responses and its frequency distribution by fetal weight. The studied placentas corresponded to fetuses with weights ranging between 12 g and 625 g.

Reviewing old concepts at the start of a new millenium: growth restriction, adrenal hypoplasia, and thymomegaly in human anencephaly.

Background: Anencephaly has been associated frequently with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), consistently with adrenal hypoplasia, and occasionally with an enlarged thymus. Few studies have analyzed the relationship between gestational age (GA), IUGR, associated anomalies and thymomegaly in anencephaly. The aims of our study were to evaluate this relationship and to highlight the usefulness of anencephaly as a model when investigating immune-endocrine interactions.