Context.-Dilation and evacuation (D&E) is an alternative method to induction of labor for pregnancy termination and intrauterine fetal demise, and it is the most common mode of second-trimester uterine evacuation in the United States. Many D&E specimens are examined in surgical pathology, and there is little information available in surgical pathology textbooks or the literature to assist pathologists in these examinations.Objective.-To provide an overview of the D&E procedure, discuss related legal issues, provide guidelines for routine pathologic examination of D&E specimens, and demonstrate the importance of careful pathologic examination of D&E specimens.Data Sources.-Case-derived material and literature review.Conclusions.-Pathologic examination of D&E specimens has been understudied. However, the available literature and our experience support the fact that careful pathologic examination of D&E specimens can identify significant fetal and placental changes that can confirm clinical diagnoses or provide definitive diagnosis, assist in explaining the cause of intrauterine fetal demise, and identify unexpected anomalies that may provide further clues to a diagnostic syndrome or mechanism of anomaly formation.(Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2013;137:326-337; doi: 10.5858/ arpa.2012-0090-RA) P athologic examination of products of conception in routine surgical pathology practice consists largely of the gross and microscopic examination of fragmented fetal and placental tissue from first-trimester missed or induced abortions. The majority of these pathology specimens are handled grossly by technicians, and for the most part, the main goal is the pathologic documentation of chorionic villi and fetal parts. However, pathologists, especially at large academic medical centers, are encountering an increasing number of disrupted, second-trimester fetal specimens for examination. Prior to the 1970s, uterine evacuation in the second trimester was accomplished via labor induction methods, such as prostaglandin or saline instillation, or by hysterotomy, and resulted in an intact fetus. The development of the dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedure during this time period gave an alternative to these methods. In 1974, only 36% of all midtrimester abortions were managed via D&E, but the safety and popularity of this method increased that number to 96% in 2005. 1 The development of a fellowship in family planning in 1991 has trained a new generation of academic D&E providers. This is a 2-year postgraduate training program for obstetrician-gynecologists and focuses on advanced clinical skills, research, and teaching in the field of contraception and abortion. A total of 179 fellows have graduated, with 79% holding positions in academic centers.2 The addition of a trained fellow to an institution will increase access to D&E services and allow women options for management of an unintended or abnormal pregnancy. Women have been shown to preferentially choose management via D&E over labor induction in the second trimester, avoiding an unpr...
