The placental pathology of small-for-gestational age infants.

There is a lack of placental studies of newborn infants who are small for gestational age (SGA). In a gross and light micorscopy evaluation of 63 referred placentas associated with singleton SGA infants, abnormalities were found in 58. In many instances these were considered of causal significance. Abnormalities included ischemic lesions (43 per cent), often related to a history of pre-eclampsia. In this group of specimens, severe X-cell proliferation was present, possibly related to a mechanism of delay of the onset of lavor. Approximately 25 per cent of the placentas showed villitis of unknown etiology. This is presumed to be of infectious etiology, probably viral. Sixteen per cent of the infants died.