title: Abnormal vascular architecture at the placental-maternal interface in placenta increta.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to characterize the vascular architecture at the placental-maternal interface in pregnancies complicated by placenta increta and normal pregnancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Vessel numbers and cross-section area density and spatial and area distributions in 13 placenta-increta placental beds were compared with 9 normal placental beds using computer-assisted image analysis of whole-slide CD31 immunolabeled sections.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total areas occupied by vessels in normal and placenta-increta placental beds were comparable, but vessels were significantly sparser and larger in the latter. Moreover, placenta-increta-vessel distributions (area and distance from the placental-myometrial junction) were more heterogeneous.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Size and spatial organization of the placenta-increta vascular architecture at the placental-maternal interface differed from normal and might partially explain the severe hemorrhage observed during placenta-increta deliveries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Hôpital la Citadelle, Liège, Belgium. fchantraine@chu.ulg.ac.be
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chantraine
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blacher
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berndt
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palacios-Jaraquemada
authors.forename: Nanette
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sarioglu
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nisolle
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Munaut
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Foidart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology*; D010921:Placenta Accreta / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult