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Macroscopic Features of the Delivered Placenta

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Pathology of the Human Placenta

Abstract

The full-term, delivered placenta is, in more than 90% of the cases, a disk-like, flat, round to oval organ. In nearly 10% it has abnormal shapes, such as placenta bilobata, placenta duplex, placenta succenturiata, placenta zonaria, and placenta membranacea (Torpin, 1969). The average diameter is 22 cm, the average thickness in the center of the delivered organ 2.5 cm, and the average weight 470g (see Table 28.1). The respective measurements show considerable interindividual variation and strongly depend on such factors as the mode of birth, timing of cord clamping (see Table 28.8), and time elapsed between delivery and examination.

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Benirschke, K., Kaufmann, P. (2000). Macroscopic Features of the Delivered Placenta. In: Pathology of the Human Placenta. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4199-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4199-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-4201-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4199-5

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