title: Umbilical cord shortening: quantification postdelivery and postfixation.
abstract: The length of the umbilical cord is an important data item, and little is known about the effects of time and fixation on measurement. Such a change has implications for the diagnosis of a long and short cord. This study was conducted to examine the effects of time and formalin fixation on cord length in a routine practice setting. We measured 90 cords from singleton term pregnancies within 5 minutes of delivery, again in the fresh state at 1 to 2 hours, and again after 24 to 48 hours of formalin fixation. The mean cord length was 536.7 mm at delivery. Mean cord shortening was 17.6 mm (3% reduction in length) between delivery and measurement at 1 to 2 hours, and 62.2 mm (12% reduction) between delivery and measurement after 24 to 48 hours fixation. Both values were statistically significant (P < 0.001). Studies on cord length should include data on time of measurement and fixation status.
authors.affiliation: 1  UCD Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin, and National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Downey
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hore
authors.forename: Fionnuala M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: McAuliffe
authors.forename: Eoghan E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Mooney
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005557:Formaldehyde; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D013997:Time Factors; D016707:Tissue Fixation; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D005557:Formaldehyde
keywords: cord length; formalin fixation; shortening