Placental infarction leading to fetal or neonatal death. A prospective study.
The pathogenesis of perinatal death due to placental infarction was analyzed in a large prospective study that included more than 1000 medical, demographic, hereditary, and postmortem variables. The disorder was the fifth most frequent cause of death in the study with a perinatal mortality of 2.26/1000 births. Its frequency was directly correlated with the gravidas' blood pressures, an effect augmented by albuminuria and work during pregnancy. Fatal infarcts were increased 20-fold with glomerulonephritis, fivefold with abruptio placentae, and twofold when the gravidas' hemoglobins were over 12 g/100 ml. Maternal weight gains were suboptimal and the involved neonates had a pattern of growth retardation characteristic of undernutrition. The disorder was more frequent when the gravida had made few prenatal visits for medical care and had had prior unsuccessful pregnancies.
D000037:Abruptio Placentae / Q000150:complications; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000419:Albuminuria / Q000150:complications; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000209:etiology*; D005333:Fetus / Q000502:physiology; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007238:Infarction / Q000150:complications*; D010414:Pennsylvania; D010920:Placenta / Q000098:blood supply*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies