ANATOMOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE UNEXPLAINED PERINATAL LOSS

Unexplained perinatal death is one of the most common adverse outcome of pregnancy. Despite the high number of these victims worldwide, this topic has received very little research, particularly in the anatomopathologic field. The present article intends to be a review of the recent anatomopathologic findings elicited by our researchs in sudden and unexplained perinatal death. In particular, we indicate the hypoplasia of the parafacial complex as a specific marker of the unexplained antepartum deaths and the hypoplasia of the parabrachial/Kölliker-Fuse complex as marker of the intrapartum deaths. Therefore we stress the importance of a through autopsy with in-depth histopathologic examination of the cardiorespiratory autonomic nervous system, performed by experienced pathologists, to provide insight into the specific mechanism leading to sudden death. Besides, the observation of a significant correlation between pathologic findings and mother’s smoking habit, leads us to seriously discourage the maternal tobacco use already before the pregnancy.