Placental pathology and pregnancy outcomes in donor and non-donor oocyte in vitro fertilization pregnancies.
OBJECTIVE
Intrinsically poor maternal adaptation to pregnancy and dysregulated processes have been postulated to occur as a consequence of an immune response to the feto-placental unit as "foreign" material. The aim of our study was to compare placental pathology and pregnancy outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancies conceived by donor oocytes with those conceived by non-donor oocytes.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective, case-control study on 91 placentas from IVF pregnancies (36 from donor oocytes and 55 from non-donor cycles). All placentas were examined by a single pathologist for signs indicative of an immune response, including chronic villitis, chronic deciduitis, increased perivillous fibrin, ischemic change/infarction, decidual vasculopathy, increased syncytial knots, intervillous thrombi, and retroplacental hematomas.


RESULTS
Placentas from donor cycles were significantly more likely to demonstrate certain pathologic findings: chronic villitis (P<0.001), chronic deciduitis (P=0.034), increased perivillous fibrin (P=0.001), ischemic change/ infarction (P=0.001), and intervillous thrombi (P =0.008). There was no statistical significance with respect to decidual vasculopathy, increased syncytial knots, or retroplacental hematomas.


CONCLUSIONS
Pathologic evidence of an immune-mediated process is much more pronounced in donor oocyte IVF pregnancies compared to non-donor cycles. Clinical implications of these findings have yet to be determined.
Perni
Sriram C
SC
Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, USA. scperni@yahoo.com
Predanic
Mladen
M
Predanik
Mladen
M
Cho
Jennifer E
JE
Baergen
Rebecca N
RN
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D009865:Oocytes; D010920:Placenta / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014019:Tissue Donors