Prenatal chronic inflammation and children's executive function development.

Fetal inflammation, typically measured indirectly through prenatal maternal cytokine markers, has been shown to impact early childhood executive functions (EFs), which are central to later cognitive and life outcomes. Here, we assessed the impact of prenatal inflammation on EF developmental trajectories using direct placenta histopathology measures in 131 mothers who predominantly self-identified as Black (90.8% Black; 0.

Invasive Ductal Breast Carcinoma Metastasis to the Uterine Cervix Presenting As Heavy Vaginal Bleeding: A Case Report and a Literature Review.

Breast carcinoma metastasis to the uterine cervix is a rare occurrence with diagnostic intricacies. We present a case of a 38-year-old woman diagnosed with bilateral stages IIIA and IIIB invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast who developed heavy vaginal bleeding post-treatment, revealing metastatic involvement of the cervix, confirmed by CT imaging and pathological examination, as the presenting sign of widely metastatic disease. This case underscores the importance of a thorough review of systems and physical exams as well as considering uncommon metastatic sites in breast cancer patients.

A rare case of ovarian hemangioma in a 30-year-old nulligravid woman.

A 30-year-old nulligravid woman with a history of polycystic ovarian syndrome presented for evaluation of left adnexal mass. The patient was referred to the gynecologic oncology clinic after endorsing signs of abdominal pain for a month and the pelvis ultrasound demonstrated hypoechoic solid mass in the left ovary. Magnetic resonance imaging with T1- and T2-weighted images demonstrated progressive centripetal "filling-in" of the mass suggesting a unique variation of malignant ovarian mass, similar to what is seen in hepatic hemangioma.

Diagnosis of Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) in an Asymptomatic Neonate on Placental Pathology.

Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common intrauterine infection, with an incidence of 0.5% to 1.3% in the United States of America (USA).

Metastatic Phyllodes Tumor in a Patient With Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome.

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is an epigenetic disorder of imprinting on the chromosome 11p15 region that presents with clinical features, such as macroglossia, abdominal wall defects, neonatal hypoglycemia, hemihypertrophy, and embryonal tumors. Phyllodes tumors (PTs) are rare fibroepithelial tumors that account for 0.3% to 1% of breast tumors and present in women aged 35 to 55 years.

A Pregnant Woman With Hemoptysis and Diffuse Pulmonary Nodules.

A 22-year-old woman who was 36 weeks pregnant presented with a 4-day history of cough, hemoptysis, and exertional dyspnea. She had no fever, night sweats, or weight loss. The review of system was otherwise negative.

Chronic Inflammatory Placental Lesions Correlate With Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Severity in Extremely Preterm Infants.

Objective: Correlation of BPD with placental pathology is important for clarification of the multifactorial pathogenesis of BPD; however, previous reports have yielded varying results. We report placental findings in no/mild BPD compared to moderate/severe BPD, and with and without pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Methods: Eligible infants were 23-27 weeks gestational age.

Disorders of placental villous maturation are present in one-third of cases with spontaneous preterm labor.

Objectives: Spontaneous preterm labor is an obstetrical syndrome accounting for approximately 65-70% of preterm births, the latter being the most frequent cause of neonatal death and the second most frequent cause of death in children less than five years of age worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare to uncomplicated pregnancies (1) the frequency of placental disorders of villous maturation in spontaneous preterm labor; (2) the frequency of other placental morphologic characteristics associated with the preterm labor syndrome; and (3) the distribution of these lesions according to gestational age at delivery and their severity.

Methods: A case-control study of singleton pregnant women was conducted that included (1) uncomplicated pregnancies (controls, n=944) and (2) pregnancies with spontaneous preterm labor (cases, n=438).

Clinical Characteristics of Mother-Infant Dyad and Placental Pathology in COVID-19 Cases in Predominantly African American Population.

 In this currently evolving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the evidence is scarce about the impact of COVID-19 infection on women in labor and neonates in an inner city African-Americans (AA) population. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes and placental pathology in mother-infant dyads in COVID-19 cases.  Retrospective chart review was conducted on 34 COVID-19 positive mother-infant dyads to study their baseline characteristics and outcomes.

Does meconium passage in term stillbirth correlate with autopsy and placental findings of hypoxia or inflammation?

Background: The cause of meconium passage in utero is controversial, traditionally being considered evidence of fetal stress and hypoxia, and also associated with intra-amniotic inflammation/infection. It is now recognized to also occur in the absence of fetal stress. Autopsy studies have shown that many term stillborns (SB) have hypoxic/ischemic brain injury and other evidence of stress preceding the time period immediately before demise, including acute thymic involution (ATI); however, these findings, along with placental findings, have not been previously correlated with meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF).

Disorders of placental villous maturation in fetal death.

Objective The aims of this study were to ascertain the frequency of disorders of villous maturation in fetal death and to also delineate other placental histopathologic lesions in fetal death. Methods This was a retrospective observational cohort study of fetal deaths occurring among women between January 2004 and January 2016 at Hutzel Women's Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA. Cases comprised fetuses with death beyond 20 weeks' gestation.

Do Increased Intra-alveolar Squamous Cells at Autopsy Correlate With Acute Fetal Asphyxia?

It is a generally held concept that finding increased aspirated amniotic fluid squames at autopsy supports a diagnosis of acute fetal asphyxia, the massive aspiration of squames being an indicator of terminal gasping. To evaluate this concept, we identified autopsies on 15 third-trimester stillborns with clinical acute placental abruption (acute asphyxia); 13 also had thymic petechiae and none had severe acute thymic involution, findings also supporting acute asphyxia. Thirty third-trimester stillborns with findings supporting a subacute or chronic mode of death, including severe thymic involution and absence of thymic petechiae, comprised the comparison group.

Umbilical Artery Thrombosis with Associated Acute and Severe Fetal Growth Restriction and Transient Severe Protein S Deficiency: Report of a Case with Prenatal Ultrasound Diagnosis Allowing for Timely Intervention and Good Outcome.

Background: Thrombosis of one of the umbilical arteries can be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as stillbirth and severe intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

Case: A 21-year-old gravida 1 patient, with a history of 3-vessel cord at 20 weeks, presented at 29 weeks with a single umbilical artery. The estimated fetal weight measurements at 26 weeks, 29 weeks, and 31 weeks were at the 27th percentile, the 26th percentile, and less than the 5th percentile, respectively.

The frequency and type of placental histologic lesions in term pregnancies with normal outcome.

Objective To determine the frequency and type of histopathologic lesions in placentas delivered by women with a normal pregnancy outcome. Methods This retrospective cohort study included placental samples from 944 women with a singleton gestation who delivered at term without obstetrical complications. Placental lesions were classified into the following four categories as defined by the Society for Pediatric Pathology and by our unit: (1) acute placental inflammation, (2) chronic placental inflammation, (3) maternal vascular malperfusion and (4) fetal vascular malperfusion.

Myelolipoma of the Pelvis: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

Myelolipomas are uncommon, benign tumors which typically occur in the adrenal glands and consist of mature adipose tissue and benign hematopoietic components. Myelolipomas can occur outside of the adrenal glands, but the presacral region, retroperitoneum, pelvis, and mediastinum are unusual locations for these tumors. It is important to recognize this entity in these locations since they can attain massive sizes leading to pressure symptoms and need to be differentiated from the malignant tumors like liposarcomas.

Small molecule inhibitors and CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis demonstrate that SMYD2 and SMYD3 activity are dispensable for autonomous cancer cell proliferation.

A key challenge in the development of precision medicine is defining the phenotypic consequences of pharmacological modulation of specific target macromolecules. To address this issue, a variety of genetic, molecular and chemical tools can be used. All of these approaches can produce misleading results if the specificity of the tools is not well understood and the proper controls are not performed.

Identification of a CARM1 Inhibitor with Potent In Vitro and In Vivo Activity in Preclinical Models of Multiple Myeloma.

CARM1 is an arginine methyltransferase with diverse histone and non-histone substrates implicated in the regulation of cellular processes including transcriptional co-activation and RNA processing. CARM1 overexpression has been reported in multiple cancer types and has been shown to modulate oncogenic pathways in in vitro studies. Detailed understanding of the mechanism of action of CARM1 in oncogenesis has been limited by a lack of selective tool compounds, particularly for in vivo studies.

Are amniotic fluid neutrophils in women with intraamniotic infection and/or inflammation of fetal or maternal origin?

Background: Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells found in the amniotic cavity of women with intraamniotic infection and/or inflammation. The current belief is that these neutrophils are of fetal origin. However, abundant neutrophils have been found in the amniotic fluid of women with a severe acute maternal inflammatory response but without a severe fetal inflammatory response in the placenta, suggesting that these innate immune cells can also be of maternal origin or a mixture of both fetal and maternal neutrophils.

Meconium staining of the amniotic fluid and the presence and severity of acute placental inflammation: a study of term deliveries in a predominantly African-American population.

Objective: To determine frequency, stage and grade of placental histologic acute maternal inflammatory response (MIR) and fetal inflammatory response (FIR) in meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) in our predominantly African-American population.

Methods: Term placentas with MSAF (n = 310) were evaluated for MIR/FIR, including stage/grade, and compared with placentas with clear amniotic fluid (AF) (n = 250). MIR/FIR were also evaluated in thick compared to thin MSAF subgroups.

CXCL10 and IL-6: Markers of two different forms of intra-amniotic inflammation in preterm labor.

Problem: To determine whether amniotic fluid (AF) CXCL10 concentration is associated with histologic chronic chorioamnionitis in patients with preterm labor (PTL) and preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes (PROM).

Method Of Study: This study included 168 women who had an episode of PTL or preterm PROM. AF interleukin (IL)-6 and CXCL10 concentrations were determined by immunoassay.

Does vitamin D deficiency affect placental inflammation or infections among very low birth weight infants?

Objective: Examine the association between placental inflammation and neonatal infections, and 25OH vitamin D (25OH D) levels at birth among very low birth weight infants (VLBWI).

Study Design: Serum 25OH D levels were measured in 89 VLBWI (≤1250 g) and 47 mothers on day one, and in 78 infants on day 21. Placentas were examined for maternal and fetal inflammation.

Mutations in IFT-A satellite core component genes and produce short rib polydactyly syndrome with distinctive campomelia.

Background: Skeletal ciliopathies comprise a spectrum of ciliary malfunction disorders that have a profound effect on the skeleton. Most common among these disorders is short rib polydactyly syndrome (SRPS), a recessively inherited perinatal lethal condition characterized by a long narrow chest, markedly shortened long bones, polydactyly and, often, multi-organ system involvement. SRPS shows extensive locus heterogeneity with mutations in genes encoding proteins that participate in cilia formation and/or function.

Adrenal Histologic Stress-related Changes in Third Trimester Stillbirth.

Adrenal histologic changes, including compact cell change (CCC), cystic change (CYC), and adrenal hemorrhage (AH), and their clinical correlations have only infrequently been investigated in stillbirth. We evaluated 75 third trimester singleton stillborns with complete autopsies (30 term and 45 preterm). A total of 58 had unexplained stillbirth and 17 had clinical placental abruption.