Histomorphometry of umbilical cord blood vessels in preeclampsia

The authors hypothesized that preeclampsia may change the phenotype of umbilical cord vessels. Segments of umbilical cords were obtained from 29 pregnant women (20 healthy and 9 with preeclampsia), which were histomorphometrically assessed. Birth weight was 2928 ± 613 g for the control group vs 1749 ± 656 g for the preeclampsia group (P<.0001). A significantly shorter gestational period was noted in the preeclampsia group: 35 weeks vs 39 weeks in the healthy group. Measurements of the outer layer area (116.4 ± 55 μm(2) vs 56.5±25 μm(2) ; P=.0038), the inner layer area (63.1 ± 16 μm(2) vs 28.6±8 μm(2) ; P<.0001), the lumen area (8.4 ± 1 μm(2) vs 3.4±2 μm(2) ; P=.0003), and the wall/lumen ratio (20.3 ± 9 vs 3.1 ± 0.6; P<.0001) of arteries were significantly larger in the preeclampsia umbilical cords. Concerning veins, the wall/lumen ratio was higher in the preeclampsia group. In this study, the umbilical cord in preeclampsia showed significant changes in the structure of umbilical arteries, with increases in wall areas and wall/lumen ratios.