title: Zika Virus-Associated Micrencephaly: A Thorough Description of Neuropathologic Findings in the Fetal Central Nervous System.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  -The 2015 outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil resulted in a 20-times increased prevalence of congenital microcephaly in stillborns and neonates and was instrumental in raising the suspicion of a causal association between Zika virus and microcephaly.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  -To provide a comprehensive description of the neuropathologic features of congenital Zika virus infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  -Autopsy evaluation of the brain from a fetus of 32 weeks and 6 days of gestation, with a prenatal diagnosis of microcephaly associated with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed, fetal, Zika virus infection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  -Multiple severe pathology findings were present. These included lissencephaly, except for the occipital lobes, where some pachygyria was observed. Also present was reduction and thinning of white matter, ventriculomegaly of the lateral ventricles, and coalescent calcifications in the cortical-subcortical white matter border associated with glioneuronal outbursting into the subarachnoid space above and heterotopias below. There were small, scattered calcifications in the basal ganglia, with fewer in the white matter and germinal matrix, and none in the cerebellum and brainstem. The cerebellum and pontine base were atrophic because of Wallerian degeneration or maldevelopment of descending tracts and pontocerebellar connections.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  -Our findings are in agreement with neuroimaging of Zika virus-associated fetal and infant micrencephalic brains and, to some extent, with neuroimaging of other intrauterine infections causing microcephaly.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Štrafela
authors.forename: Alenka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vizjak
authors.forename: Jerica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mraz
authors.forename: Jernej
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mlakar
authors.forename: Jože
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pižem
authors.forename: Nataša
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tul
authors.forename: Tatjana Avšič
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Županc
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Pathology, University Clinical Centre, Maribor, Slovenia (Dr Štrafela); the Institutes of Pathology (Drs Vizjak, Mlakar, Pižem, and Popović and Mrs Mraz) and Microbiology and Immunology (Dr Županc), Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; and the Department of Perinatology, Division of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia (Dr Tul).
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Popović
mesh_terms: D000025:Abortion, Eugenic; D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D005865:Gestational Age; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D054082:Lissencephaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008831:Microcephaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D011247:Pregnancy; D000071244:Zika Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology