Histopathological changes in placenta in pregnancy-induced hypertensive patients and correlation with fetal outcome – a tertiary care hospital study

Abstract

Background: The placenta, fetus, and mother form a composite functional equilibrium during prenatal period. The dysfunction of placenta often leads to preeclampsia/eclampsia. They remain the major causes of maternal and perinatal mortality. It has been revealed that there is a clear relationship between placental pathology and intrauterine growth restriction in preeclampsia. Aim of this study was to evaluate the histomorphological changes of placenta in pregnancy induced hypertensive disorders and to compare those with normal placenta and to correlate the findings with foetal outcome in terms of APGAR score and birth weights of newborn babies. Materials and Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study. We included 50 pregnant women with pregnancy induced hypertension as cases and 50 normotensive pregnant women as controls. Specimens of placenta from each cases and controls were collected after delivery and processed by routine histopathology technique. We looked for morphological and histological changes in placenta. We also collected the data on APGAR scores, birth weight and fetal death, if any. Microsoft Excel 2013 and Minitab version 17 were utilized for statistical analysis. Results: We found statistically significant reduction in placental weight, diameter and thickness among cases compared to controls and there is also a strong correlation with the histopathological changes of placenta in hypertensive mothers to fetal weight. Birth weights of newborns to hypertensive mothers were significantly lower than those of normotensive mothers. Conclusion: Hypertensive disorders of Pregnancy causes significant histomorphological changes in placenta leading to adverse foetal outcome.

Keywords

• fetal outcome
• histomorphological changes
• pregnancy-induced hypertension