Four Years of Foetal Autopsies in A Peripheral Teaching HospitalA Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Materials and Methods After obtaining the institutional ethics committee, this retrospective study on 28 foetal autopsies performed in the department of Pathology, Saveetha Medical College, over a period of three years from November 2012 to November 2015 was performed. The cases, for which all the autopsy data were available, were included in the study. Macerated and autolyzed foetuses were excluded from the study. All the details in autopsy reports including gestational age, sex of the foetus, external examination findings, anthropometric measurements, internal examination findings, findings of the examination of head & neck, brain and spinal cord, results of examination of placenta and umbilical cord were retrieved from the departmental achieves and analysed. Cunningham & Hollier classification [5] was used to divide cases into foetal, placental or maternal categories as: Foetal (25-40%)-chromosomal anomalies, non-chromosomal birth defects, non-immune hydrops, infections; Placental (25-35%)-abruption, foetal-maternal haemorrhage, cord accident, placental insufficiency, intra partum asphyxia, placenta previa, twin to twin transfusion, chorioamnionitis; Maternal (5-10%)-diabetes, hypertensive disorders, trauma, abnormal labour, sepsis, uterine rupture, postterm pregnancy, drugs, antiphospholipid antibodies, unexplained.