Quantitative microscopy in studies of intrauterine growth retardation

In the past, the detection of fetal damage has tended to be restricted to the naked eye identification of major malformations, with the period of organ maturation being relatively neglected. Increasingly, however, unbiased design-based stereology is being used in developmental toxicological studies. In the field of intrauterine growth retardation, such methods are capable of providing new insights into fetal vulnerability during critical periods in organogenesis, with consequences for both post-natal and adult disease.