The placenta in cases of hemolytic disease of the newborn

Abstract

The changes in the placenta associated with hemolytic disease of the newborn were studied. Twenty-seven placentas from rhesus-isoimmunized mothers and one from a mother with anti-Le were collected and examined histologically and by the large section technique of Gough and Wentworth. The more severely the baby was affected the larger the placenta in relation to the baby. In the severe cases, the placentas were extremely pale and more friable than normal. The diagnostic histologic features in the placenta were a marked decrease in the number of fetal vessels and an increase in the number of nucleated red cells in these vessels. Langhans’ layer persisted in all cases but in itself was not considered a specific change. A direct effect of the rhesus antibody-antigen reaction was postulated as the possible cause of these changes.