title: Diabetic placenta: ultrastructure and morphometry of the term villi.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify the ultrafine conformation of term villi in diabetic and normal placentae. Villar dysmaturity and chorangiosis are considered the most frequent findings in diabetic placentae, but their histogenesis is still unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a morphometric study of 38 term villi in 5 diabetic placentae and of 37 term villi of 5 normal placentae in order to know the different extension of endothelial surface (VL), the maximum (D max) and minimum (D min) distance of the vessels from the basal membrane, as well as the exact thickness of basal membrane (MT BM). The villi were examined with transmission electron microscopy, and parameters were automatically acquired with the iTEM software (Soft Imaging System, Münster, Germany).
  
  
  RESULTS
  VL results were statistically higher in diabetic placentae than in normal ones. Also D max and D min were higher in diabetic disease. MT BM was not different in the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings show that, in the presence of chorangiosis, the vessel surface in diabetic placentae is higher than in normal group, but the vessels are randomly distributed in term villi. The basal membrane is not different in the two groups. Morphometric evaluation seems to be more accurate using ultrafine samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathological Anatomy, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scillitani
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vimercati
authors.forename: Maria G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Fiore
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mastrodonato
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Resta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002196:Capillaries / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002824:Chorionic Villi / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004487:Edema / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000473:pathology; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010922:Placenta Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult