Pregnancy and umbilical cord pathology: structural and functional parameters of the umbilical cord

Scientific research in the field of physiology and pathology of the umbilical cord is quite limited and imperfect. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the histological architecture of the pathological umbilical cord and investigate the relationship between the main parameters and placental postnatal macromorphometric characteristics, which serve as a reflection of placental dysfunction. Four groups of patients were included, each undergoing a postnatal histological and topographic examination of the umbilical cord: Wharton’s jelly edema (10 samples), velamentous cord insertion (10 samples), single umbilical artery (10 samples), and physiological pregnancy (10 samples). Compared to the control group, all newborn groups exhibited changes in umbilical vessel morphology, characterized by an increased Wagenworth index and a decreased Kernohan index. The functional indices of the umbilical vessels were found to be most severely affected in cases of Wharton's jelly edema. In cases of single umbilical artery, the changes in vascular functional parameters indicated their compensatory remodeling with the highest Wagenworth and Kernohan indices of the umbilical vein. Deviation from the normal average placental weight was observed in cases of Wharton's jelly volume pathology or velamentous cord insertion. However, in the case of a single umbilical artery, there were no significant deviations in the macromorphometry of the placenta.