The effect of syphilitic infection on fetal growth and development

Abstract

Aim: to study the fetal development during the early gestational period (7-9 weeks) in women with syphilitic infection who chose to terminate the pregnancy with the help of artificial abortions. Materials and methods. Women with a history of syphilitic infection and a physiological pregnancy of 7-9 weeks underwent ultrasound examination of the fetus. Following the abortion procedure, histological sections of the abortive material were analyzed. Results. During the ultrasound examination of these women at the gestation period of 7-9 weeks, the thickness of the collar space was 1.5-1.6 mm, the yolk sac was 4.4-4.6 mm, and the coccygeal-parietal size - 54-56 mm, with no significant differences from the control group. In the decidual tissue, foci of fibrinoid necrosis and leukocyte infiltration of the stroma were significantly more common in women with primary or anamnestic syphilis as compared with the control group. Conclusion. In the early stages of pregnancy on the background of syphilitic infection, there were no sonographic differences from non-infected pregnant women; though inflammatory and other abnormalities were found in a histological analysis of the abortion material.

Keywords

• pregnant woman
• syphilitic infection
• ultrasound examination
• embryo