Placenta
Nonneoplastic placental conditions and abnormalities
Noninfectious
Hypoxic changes
Author: Mandolin S. Ziadie, M.D.
Last author update: 1 October 2011
Last staff update: 29 October 2020
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Hypoxic changes placenta [title]
Cite this page: Ziadie MS. Hypoxic changes. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/placentahypoxia.html. Accessed June 7th, 2023.
Definition / general
- Any lesion resulting in placental hypoxia can induce downstream effects in the placental villi due to underperfusion of the intervillous space
- These changes may be seen in pregnancies affected by maternal hypertension or superficial implantation with insufficient vascular remodeling
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Maternal underperfusion (affecting the intervillous space) is associated with infarction and decidual arteriopathy
- Other changes include: increased syncytial knotting (Tenney-Parker change), distal villous hypoplasia / accelerated maturation (villi are smaller than normal with finger-like outlines) and villous chorangiosis
- Fetal hypoxia / anemia / underperfusion (affecting the chorionic villous circulation) results in hemorrhagic endovasculitis / fetal thrombotic vasculopathy
- Increased numbers of nucleated red cells may be present
