title: Placental morphology in pre-eclampsia and eclampsia and the likely role of NK cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Placenta has long been a neglected organ as far as its pathology is concerned. This study is an attempt to observe the morphological features of placentae both gross and microscopic in normal pregnancy, preeclampsia, and eclampsia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 150 placentae were collected; of these, 50 belonged to normal pregnancy, 50 belonged to pre-eclamptic women, and 50 were from patients of eclampsia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Placental trimmed weight was seen to be decreased in patients of preeclampsia and eclampsia. Placental infarcts were more commonly seen in the diseased group and they were more centrally located. Hypertrophy of the spiral arterioles was observed in the decidual portion found in placental disc and membranes. Distal villous hypoplasia was also frequently seen in the diseased group. Fetal membranes were thickened and showed infarcts in preeclampsia and eclampsia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Morphological features seen in eclamptic placentae were similar but exaggerated compared to preeclampsia. In conclusion, the pathological changes were found to be more severe and frequent in preeclampsia and eclampsia, but more so in eclamptic placentae as compared with placenta of normal pregnancy. CD56 immunomarker was also used to identify NK cells. They were found to be present only in the diseased group and were located in the decidual portion of the basal plate, implicating their role in the development of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology, University of Health Sciences, Khayaban-E-Punjab, Pakistan. m.a.h.a.m@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Maham
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akhlaq
authors.forename: Abdul H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Nagi
authors.forename: Ahmad Waseem
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Yousaf
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019002:CD56 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D004461:Eclampsia / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D008853:Microscopy; D010920:Placenta / Q000473:pathology*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019002:CD56 Antigen; C522918:NCAM1 protein, human