[Proliferation of villous trophoblast and stroma in normal and pathologic pregnancies (preeclampsia)].

Pregnancies, complicated with preeclampsia, present with intrauterine growth retardation of the fetus and small (in size and weight) placentas. The present study aims at establishing the expression of proliferative nuclear antigen Ki-67 in the villous trophoblast and stroma, and to compare the results between study (preeclamptic cases n = 30) and control (normal n = 30) groups. The number of Ki-67 positive nuclei both in the preeclamptic trophoblast and stroma significantly increases those of the controls. Our results show that the defect in the development of the placenta in preeclampsia is not associated with low proliferative potential.