MORPHO-FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLACENTA IN WOMEN WITH THE NORMAL COURSE OF PREGNANCY AND IN ITS DISTURBANCES

Placenta received from 22 puerperas (7 - with normal course of pregnancy, 5 - with moderate degree of preeclampsia, 10 - with severe form of preeclampsia) was studied using histological and morphometric methods. In physiological course of pregnancy, chorionic villi sections had different sizes and shapes, with the predominance of round and oval terminal villi. Their surface was covered by syncytiotrophoblast and relatively thin fibrinoid layer, while their stroma was formed by loose connective tissue containing several blood capillaries. In preeclampsia, the area occupied by the chorionic villi in the placenta was reduced (mainly due to the reduction in the number of terminal villi), and there was an increase in the intervillous spaces. In the villi, the extent of the damaged areas in the syncytiotrophoblast was increased together with the area of fibrinoid on the their surface. In the villous stroma, the leukocytic infiltration and focal hemorrhages were detected, while the number of capillaries was decreased. In the basal and chorionic plates, the area and the thickness of fibrinoid layer were increased. The degree of these changes increased with the severity of preeclampsia. The reactive and adaptive changes indicate a stressed functioning of the placenta on the verge of exhaustion.

placenta, chorion, villi, fibrinoid, decidual cells