Loading...
More and more specific conditions are being recognized within the heterogeneous diagnosis of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Confined placental mosaicism (CPM) — chromosomal abnormalities found only in the placenta and not in the infant — can be identified only at the time of delivery. To examine the role of CPM in infants with IUGR, researchers in Japan retrospectively evaluated the placentas of 50 infants with unexplained IUGR (weight and length less than 2.0 SD below the mean).
Cytogenetic and molecular studies of two or more placental sites and cord blood identified eight infants with CPM (16%). A variety of chromosomal abnormalities was found in the placentas of these infants: one case each of trisomy 2, 7, and 13; two cases of …