[Experience in studying perinatal losses according to the data of the Syktyvkar Postmortem Examination Bureau]

A database of all perinatal losses from 18 weeks' gestation in 1994-2007 was set up in Syktyvkar. It was found that 514 (24.3%) cases were associated with congenital malformation (CM) in the fetus (24.3%). Defects of the central nervous system, visceral organs, and facial structures, as well as their multiple forms were most common. The mean weight of fetuses with CM was 822 +/- 640 g and that of fetuses with chromosomal abnormality, heart and large vessel defects were more than 1000 g. One half of all cases of fetal chromosomal pathology were observed in women aged 30 years or older. Placentitis was revealed in 79 cases; of them 17 cases were found to have potentially teratogenic villusitis. There is a positive tendency for lower weights in the fetuses with CM in perinatal losses. The results of our study suggest that placental histological changes may be used to estimate the probability of CM.