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Intervillous Space: Infiltrates

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Pathology of the Placenta

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Abstract

Histological lesions involving the intervillous space include inflammatory and infectious diseases covered elsewhere, maternal malignancies, maternal haematological disease and trophoblastic lesions including choriocarcinoma. Placental involvement by maternal malignancies is uncommon, but likely under-reported as the lesions often are not visible on macroscopic examination, and may mimic infarcts or other benign lesions such as perivillous fibrin with intermediate trophoblast. Mostly they arise from haematogenous spread, but direct tumour extension is also reported. Malignant melanoma is the most common tumour to spread, followed by lung and breast cancer and leukaemia/lymphoma. Maternal metastasis involves the intervillous space and, in a small proportion of cases, chorionic villous invasion with or without vascular invasion is also present. Fetal/infant metastasis is rare. Malignant tumour cell spread to the conceptus has to be compared to the increasing recognition of the role of two-way benign cell transfer causing microchimerism of the mother and fetus in both maternal and childhood diseases. A number of cases with placental metastases appear associated with stillbirth due to many possible causes but only rarely due to fetal metastases.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar

    Adrian K. Charles

  2. Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar

    Adrian K. Charles

  3. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Marie-Anne Bründler

  4. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Marie-Anne Bründler

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  1. Adrian K. Charles
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Correspondence to Adrian K. Charles .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomical Pathology, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, North Adelaide, SA, Australia

    T. Yee Khong

  2. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

    Eoghan E. Mooney

  3. Department of Pathology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Peter G. J. Nikkels

  4. Department of Pathology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Terry K. Morgan

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Sanne J. Gordijn

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Charles, A.K., Bründler, MA. (2019). Intervillous Space: Infiltrates. In: Khong, T., Mooney, E., Nikkels, P., Morgan, T., Gordijn, S. (eds) Pathology of the Placenta. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97214-5_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97214-5_31

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97213-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97214-5

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