A Comparative Study of Placentas in Normal and Hypertensive Pregnancies

Placenta is an important vital organ upon which the intrauterine existence of foetus is dependent. Pregnancy complication like hypertension (PIH) is reflected in placenta and is the major cause of maternal& foetal mortality& morbidity. Objectives: 1) To study morphology and histology of placenta in normal and hypertensive pregnancies.2) Comparison of two groups and correlation of their changes with the foetal outcome. Material& Methods: 100 placentas of patients both from normal& hypertensive group were taken for study from the labour room of Dept. of Obstetric& Gynaecology& operation theatre of Dr. PDMMH, Amravati, Maharashtra. Gross morphological features of placentas like size, surface area, weight and insertion of umbilical cord were noted. For histological studies, biopsies from each placenta of size 5 mm were taken. This was followed by fixation in 10 % formal saline and further histological processing of the tissue was carried out. Observations& Results: The morphological parameters like weight, size, surface area, number of cotyledons were reduced and areas of infarction, retroplacental clot, calcification were more in hypertensive placenta than normal placenta. (pless than0.005) Similarly, the histological features like increased syncytial knots, intravillous and intervillous fibrin deposition, cytotrophoblastic proliferation, hyalinised villi, atherosis were also observed in hypertensive placentas. The observed differences were statistically significant.