Comparative Analysis of Excessive Collagen Deposition in Terminal Villi of Normal and Pre-eclamptic Placentae

Abstract

Background: The placenta is an essential part of the body for sustaining a pregnancy and fostering normal fetal development, it has been reported that pathological abnormalities seen in the placenta have a negative impact on fetal outcome. It has been documented that the spiral arteries of the placenta lose their elastic qualities during preeclampsia and ultimately results in inadequate placental perfusion which has been associated with a major histological alteration in the preeclamptic placenta that is fibrosis.

Objective: To compare the collagen Deposition in terminal villi of Normal and Pre-eclamptic Placentae.

Methodology: It was a cross-sectional investigation with 50 placenta samples, 25 of which were preeclamptic and 25 of which were normal. Following a caesarean section, the placentas were collected, prepared according to protocol, and examined histo-pathologically. Pre-eclampsia cases that had been registered, blood pressure that was less than 140/90 mmHg, parity between 0 and 4, a mother's age between 25 and 35, gestational age between 36 and 42 weeks, and caesarean section deliveries were the inclusion criteria. Patients with known hypertension and those who had been diagnosed with other chronic conditions were excluded from the study.

Results: The average number of terminal Villi, in Group A and Group B with excessive collagen were 4.780.98/0.9025mm² and 11.361.03/0.9025mm². Masson's Trichrome stained sections showed a quantitative difference between collagen deposition in healthy and preeclamptic samples of placentae. It highlighted that preeclampsia leads to deposition of collagen in walls of the terminal villi.

Conclusion: In this study, pre-eclamptic placentae showed a highly significant decrease in number of villi with excessive collagen in pre-eclamptic placentae as compared to normal placentae.