Villitis of Unknown Etiology in the Placenta of a Pregnancy Complicated by COVID-19

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ÖZER E., ÇAĞLIYAN E., Yuzuguldu R. I., CEVİZCİ M. C., DUMAN N.

TURKISH JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY, cilt.37, sa.2, ss.167-171, 2021 (ESCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 37 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.5146/tjpath.2020.01506
  • Dergi Adı: TURKISH JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.167-171
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: COVID-19, Placenta, SARS-CoV-2, Villitis of unknown etiology
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Villitis of unknown etiology (VUE) is noninfectious chronic villitis thought to be associated with fetal growth restriction and stillbirth. COVID-19 and the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause an increased risk in pregnant women for potential maternal and fetal complications from an immunological mechanism. We report a 39-week-gestational-age infant delivered to a 37-year-old mother diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection at 37 weeks gestation. The placental examination showed the morphological features of VUE. We showed immunohistochemically that macrophages and CD4-positive T cells predominated in the villous tissue, although elevated numbers of CD8-positive cells were also present. We hypothesize that VUE may represent a maternal anti-viral immune response, in this case to SARS-CoV-2.