N88

PLACENTA - Normal; placenta and foetus papyraceous

Description
This specimen consists of a normal placenta with the first part of the umbilical cord, and an abnormal placenta and foetus. The abnormal placenta is small and thin and the foetus is flattened and parchment-like. The foetus is of approximately the size of sixteen weeks.
History
This was the result of a first pregnancy in a 27-year-old woman who had had hepatitis at the 4th month of pregnancy and was admitted to hospital with a threatened miscarriage at 19 weeks. An abdominal x-ray at 34 weeks showed a healthy child and a dead child. Delivery at term was uncomplicated.