Stillborn infant with calcified chorionic epithelium, corneal scarring, and pericarditis

This autopsy of a stillborn term infant revealed a constellation of unusual features including calcification of the chorion membrane and portions of the umbilical vascular media, extensive white matter gliosis, arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, adhesions of one eyelid to the globe, pericarditis, a miniature left foot, and a cleft palate. We hypothesized that the membrane and umbilical cord lesions resulted from an episode of resolved chorioamnionitis earlier in the pregnancy. Mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) demonstrates a bacteremic infection of the amniotic cavity, pericarditis, and uniocular endophthalmitis in the mare. On the basis of analogy, we speculated that this infant suffered an intrauterine bacteremia with tissue predilection similar to that of MRLS.