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Trophoblast Invasion: Remodelling of Spiral Arteries and Beyond

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Preeclampsia

Part of the book series: Comprehensive Gynecology and Obstetrics ((CGO))

Abstract

Despite massive scientific and clinical efforts, the etiology of preeclampsia remains a mystery. Quite a variety of different hypotheses has been developed and this is ongoing, but none of them has been able to explain the symptoms of the different preeclampsia subtypes satisfactorily. Here, the hypothesis of shallow trophoblast invasion and its relation to preeclampsia will be discussed. New pathways of trophoblast invasion will be described, including those into spiral arteries (endoarterial trophoblast), into uterine veins (endovenous trophoblast), into uterine glands (endoglandular trophoblast), and into uterine lymph vessels (endolymphatic trophoblast). Moreover, failure of trophoblast invasion will be related to oxygenation of the placenta and subsequently to preeclampsia.

The data presented in this chapter will clarify that (1) there is no direct relation between shallow invasion and preeclampsia; (2) there is no proof of placental hypoxia, either in IUGR and/or preeclampsia; and (3) new routes of scientific self-conception need to be established to enable new and out-of-the-box thinking.

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Correspondence to Berthold Huppertz Ph.D. .

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Huppertz, B. (2018). Trophoblast Invasion: Remodelling of Spiral Arteries and Beyond. In: Saito, S. (eds) Preeclampsia. Comprehensive Gynecology and Obstetrics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5891-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5891-2_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5890-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5891-2

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