Placental pathology of fetal growth restriction.

It is evident that there is not a single uteroplacental or villous lesion that results in fetal growth restriction. It is more likely that it is the accumulation (or total burden) of placental injury that, when present for a sufficient time interval, leads to FGR. Future studies that focus on patterns of lesions, rather than on individual lesions, may prove to be more rewarding in elucidating the causal pathways by which placental histopathology is translated into FGR and its attendant neonatal and pediatric sequelae.