A study on histopathological changes in placenta in pre-eclampsia/eclampsia: A case-control study in tertiary care centre, western India

Introduction: In pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), pathological changes in the placenta occurs which may result in reduced blood flow across placenta. The present study has been undertaken to assess the morphology & histology of placenta from mothers with PIH and to correlate their findings with those of normal pregnancies. Materials and Methods: The present study was a case-control study conducted during July 2015 to September 2017. Placenta of cases of singleton normal pregnancies & those complicated by pre-eclampsia/ eclampsia and of known gestational period were included. The placentae were divided into two groups; Group 1: Pregnancy with hypertension (cases) and Group 2: Normal pregnancy (control). Detailed macroscopic and microscopic examinations were conducted on the placentae. Results: The mean weight of placenta (474 ± 58 grams) was higher among control group in comparison to PIH group (420 ± 61 grams). This difference was statistically significant. (p 0.001) The mean fetoplacental weight ratio (6.14 ± 0.503) was higher among PIH group in comparison to control group (6.03 ± 0.409). This difference was statistically insignificant. (p ?0.05). There was significant association between presence of gross infarction, calcification, Hyalinised area /10 lpf, medial coat proliferation/ 10 lpf, intervillous hemorrhage, decreased villous vascularity and PIH. Conclusion: It is concluded that there was statistically significant difference between mean birth weight of the babies and mean placental weight in control group and PIH group. It also revealed striking villous lesions like increased syncytial knots, cytotrophoblastic cell proliferation, villous stromal fibrosis and fibrinoid necrosis in placenta from preeclampsia cases.