Abstract
Complete separation of the maternal and fetal circulation during normal pregnancy has been regarded as an extremely important protective factor from the immunologic standpoint. This hypothesis was tested in outbred rabbits in which a direct maternal-fetal parabiosis was established during the last week of pregnancy by implanting an intact maternal omental pedicle subcutaneously into the fetus. A functional cross-circulation, which developed after 48 hours as evidenced by maternal51Cr-labeled erythrocytes, led to pathologic changes culminating in fetal death within 70 to 80 hours postoperatively. Hyperacute graft rejection, previously postulated as the etiology of these fetal changes, was ruled out since the same characteristic syndrome occurred in similarly treated inbred fetuses syngeneic with their mothers. This study indicates that the absence of direct vascular intercommunication between mother and fetus at the level of the placenta is clearly necessary for physiologic as well as immunologic reasons.
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