Vascular change in the placenta of diabetic mothers and hypertensive diabetic mothers

Pregnancy complicated by diabetes and/or hypertension is a significant medical problem not only affecting maternal health, but also jeopardizing fetal normalcy. The placenta being the bridge between maternal fetal activity, this structure is considered as a window through which understanding of maternal dysfunctions as well as of their impacts on fetal wellbeing can be obtained. And as it is an almost all-vessel organ, its functional status depends primarily on the structural status of its vessels. To observe vascular changes in the placenta, a study was carried out on 44 placentas.19 from overt diabetic mothers having no hypertension and 5 from hypertensive diabetic mothers, and 20 from control group having no hypertension or diabetes. These were collected just after delivery though caesarian section. Macroscopic findings of the study was that there was a trend of increase weight, volume and number of cotyledons in overt diabetes group, where as the in the hypertensive diabetes group was the opposite. But none of these levels has reached a significant level. For all these variables, the hypertensive diabetes group had smaller values than the overt diabetes group, significantly so for the number of cotyledons. The placental diameter was non-significantly larger in the overt diabetes group than in the control group, but a smaller than control value was found in the hypertensive diabetes group. Although neonatal weight did not show any significant change in either group, but in overt diabetes group, it showed a significant positive correlation with placental weight.