Paper Title
Variations in Placental Attachment of Umbilical Cord and Vascular Pattern of Chorionic Blood Vessels in Pre-Eclamptic Pregnancies
Abstract
The umbilical cord is a tube like structure that connects the fetus with the placenta which provides oxygen and
nutrients to the fetus and removes waste products. Deformities in the development and site of attachment of the umbilical
cord can affect maternal and fetal well-being. The study was done in 32 placentae which were collected from the Department
of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India, during the period from January
2017 to June 2017. The study aimed to assess the variations in the placental attachment of umbilical cord and vascular
pattern of chorionic blood vessels in normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies, thereby analyse the effect of variations in cord
insertions on fetal birth weight. In the present study, common site of insertion of umbilical cord was eccentric (62.5%) in
both pre-eclamptic and normal pregnancies. Marginal attachment of cord was seen in 33% of pre-eclamptic cases and there
was no marginal cord insertion in normal pregnancies. We found that placentae with marginal cord insertions were
associated with low fetal birth weight and the magistral type distribution of umbilical vessels was found with marginal cord
insertion.
Keywords - Birth weight, Cord insertion, Pre-eclampsia, Placenta, Umbilical cord.