[Disproportion between placenta weight and birth weight: Physiologic or pathologic].

OBJECTIVES

To study risk factors, maternal and neonatal outcome with a high placental weight to birth weight ratio (PW/BW).

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Two groups of full term singleton pregnancies were created in this single centre retrospective population-based study (a high PW/BW above 0.25 and group control with normal PW/BW between 0.15 and 0.25). Maternal and neonatal outcomes were compared.

RESULTS

Compared with the group with normal PW/BW ratios, the high PW/BW ratio group was associated with increased rates of pre-eclampsia (15.5% versus 1.7%, P<0.05) and small for gestational age (8% versus 0%, P<0.05). Neither maternal risk factors nor neonatal outcome difference were shown after adjusting confounding factors.

CONCLUSION

High PW/BW with placentomegaly is associated with increased risk of pre-eclampsia at term underlying a mixture of condition in its pathogenesis.