Placental lesions in experimental toxemia in the rabbit.

Unlike the normal human placenta, the normal rabbit placenta, near term, is essentially free of such stigmas of aging as infarcts and syncytial knots. When experimental toxemia is produced in the pregnant rabbit by ligating the terminal aorta to a specific degree of stricture, placental lesions resembling those found in human toxemia are observed; namely, diffuse congestion, old and recent infarcts, and syncytial knots. All the treated animals who exhibited anatomical and clinical signs of toxemia presented, in association, obvious placental lesions; there were, however, some animals which showed infarct but no other signs of toxemia.