BGDA Practical Placenta - Cord Development
Practical 14: Implantation and Early Placentation | Villi Development | Maternal Decidua | Cord Development | Placental Functions | Diagnostic Techniques | Abnormalities |
Placental/Umbilical Cord
The placental cord (umbilical cord) is the connecting region between the functional placenta and the embryo/fetal umbilical region. The human cord varies physically in overall length, increasing to about 60 to 70 cm at term, degree of coiling, number of vessels and insertion site on the placenta. This extraembryonic structure contains the placental blood vessels and allantois.
Normally a pair of placental arteries are wrapped around a single (left) placental vein. A persistent right umbilical vein is thought to be a rare anomaly.
Placental Arteries and Vein
Week 8
Placental Cord Histology
Virtual Slide - Virtual Slides - Placenta Please note that there are additional slides listed in the current set, only the first placenta slide and the cord cross-section will be covered in detail in the practical class.
Placental Cord Ultrasound
Ultrasound image of transverse scan through the cord show the method of estimation of the cross-sectional area.
Wharton's Jelly
Hofbauer Cells
Fetal Circulation
Additional Information
Persistent Right Umbilical Vein
A study of 15,237 obstetric ultrasound examinations performed after 15 weeks' gestation identified only 33 cases of persistent right umbilical vein.
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Vessel Anomalies
- Fetal intra-abdominal umbilical vein varix is a focal dilatation of the intra-abdominal portion of the umbilical vein.
Practical 14: Implantation and Early Placentation | Villi Development | Maternal Decidua | Cord Development | Placental Functions | Diagnostic Techniques | Abnormalities |