Fetal maturity and morbidity as related to placental weight and secondary ossification.

The problem of objectivity in histopathology is illustrated by an attempt to determine the normal range and significance of two observations, placental weight and secondary ossification, made in perinatal pathology. Neither offered a satisfactory estimation of fetal maturity. The placental weight provided little evidence of any primary placental dysfunction: the placenta was very small in association with only 50% of the very small infants and a very small placental fetal weight ratio was an infrequent finding of doubtful significance. A method of classifying relatively retarded and advanced secondary ossification was devised. Significant retardation was found in association with males, growth retardation, some malformations, and multiple births: significantly advanced ossification was found in anencephaly.