ABSTRACT
As indicated in the ‘Introduction’, the placenta is not a favorite subject of surgical pathologists. Unlike in other areas of the field, placental examination seldom yields precise pathologic diagnoses that have direct and immediate clinical impact. The clinician may feel that placental examination is a way of confirming conditions previously clinically diagnosed with the assistance of laboratory and imaging techniques. There are, however, instances in which the placenta has immediate or remote clinical implications. An infection with a specific organism may first be picked up by placental examination, as may an indication of a thrombophilia. Appropriate therapy can be instituted, or a stillbirth explained. Recurrent conditions such as thrombophilias and maternal floor infarctions may be picked up by placental examination, and categorize the mother as high risk, allowing for appropriate interventions in her future pregnancies. The role of examination of the placenta in explaining suboptimal perinatal outcome, as well as in medicolegal investigations, has been emphasized in the literature.
