title: Placental calcifications: a clue for the identification of high-risk fetuses in the low-risk pregnant population?
abstract: "What does it mean, Doctor?" and "Is it going to affect my baby in some way?". Those are the most typical questions of pregnant women to obstetricians. Answering is sometimes easier but placental calcification is not the case, since placental architecture and disease are two different faces of the same coin and the association between them is not completely clear. Placenta can function properly, even in the presence of architectural alterations, without any fetal consequences. So, remains the question, when does a placental structural anomaly become a sign of increased attention to maternal conditions, fetal development and well-being? The present review will analyze these concepts, with emphasis on placental calcification, its pathogenesis, and the state-of-the-art regarding the influence of this finding on pregnancy outcomes among low-risk pregnant patients.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria Policlinico di Bari, School of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" , Bari , Italy , and.|b US Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Soroka University Medical Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev , Beer Sheva , Israel.
authors.forename: Salvatore Andrea
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mastrolia
authors.affiliation: b US Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Soroka University Medical Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev , Beer Sheva , Israel.
authors.forename: Adi Yehuda
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Weintraub
authors.affiliation: b US Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Soroka University Medical Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev , Beer Sheva , Israel.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sciaky-Tamir
authors.affiliation: b US Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Soroka University Medical Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev , Beer Sheva , Israel.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tirosh
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria Policlinico di Bari, School of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" , Bari , Italy , and.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Loverro
authors.affiliation: b US Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Soroka University Medical Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev , Beer Sheva , Israel.
authors.forename: Reli
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hershkovitz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010922:Placenta Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: Chorioamnionitis; Grannum grade; placental histology; pregnancy outcomes; ultrasound