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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Laparoscopic Extracorporeal Knot-Tying for Uterine Vessel Occlusion during Hysterectomy with Cervical Cerclage in Large Uteri
Published on: September 12, 2025
[Stillbirth and tight umbilical cord knot: obviously guilty?]
R Guilherme1, C Plot, A-L Delezoide
1Service de biologie du développement, hôpital Robert-Debré, université Denis-Diderot, 48, boulevard Sérurier, 75019 Paris, France. romain.guilherme@rdb.aphp.fr
A healthy woman, gravida 1, para 1, spontaneously delivered a stillborn at 40 weeks of gestation, presenting with a tight umbilical cord knot. Fetopathological examination confirmed the main but not exclusive role of the knot in this intra-uterine fetal death (IUFD). Knot of the umbilical cord is a rare occurrence, which is usually an incidental finding at delivery. However, it is associated with an increase in perinatal mortality. Only a complete fetopathological examination can state causality between knot and IUFD, exclude another fetal or placental cause of death and consequently reassure the parents for the prognosis of another pregnancy.
A healthy woman, gravida 1, para 1, spontaneously delivered a stillborn at 40 weeks of gestation, presenting with a tight umbilical cord knot. Fetopathological examination confirmed the main but not exclusive role of the knot in this intra-uterine fetal death (IUFD). Knot of the umbilical cord is a rare occurrence, which is usually an incidental finding at delivery. However, it is associated with an increase in perinatal mortality. Only a complete fetopathological examination can state causality between knot and IUFD, exclude another fetal or placental cause of death and consequently reassure the parents for the prognosis of another pregnancy.
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