Correlation of Placental Pathology with Perinatal Brain Injury

The purpose of placental pathology is to explain adverse clinical outcomes. One of the most tragic of these outcomes is perinatal brain injury with subsequent neurodisability. Findings in the placenta can play an important role in documenting sentinel events, uncovering clinically silent thromboinflammatory disease processes, revealing developmental alterations in functional reserve, and suggesting alterations in related maternal and fetal physiology. These findings, when integrated with clinical data, provide a plausible explanation for an otherwise unexpected outcome and can be helpful for treating physicians and family members.