Morphologic pathology of fetomaternal interaction.

The thorough and interested pathologic examination of the placenta may explain events during pregnancy, give evidence of perinatal complications, document patterns of twinning, raise suspicions regarding fetal anomalies or explain the source of perinatal diseases, anomalies or growth retardation. The findings ascertained by such examinations may be particularly significant in the neonatal management of the sick infant and genetic counselling of a family delivered of an abnormal fetus. There are many instances where lesions are seen in the placenta without apparent explanation or where the clinical situation would suggest severe placental pathology but none is identified. These frustrating situations may yield in the future to closer clinical pathological correlation and more sophisticated analyses as long as these are undertaken in the context of the two individuals reacting through the placenta.