BACKGROUND In the human placenta, maternal and fetal bloods exchange substances through the surface of the villous trees: the fetal blood circulates in the villous trees, around which the maternal blood circulates. The blood flows directly influence fetal growth. Stem villi, the main supports of the villous tree, have contractile cells along the axes, whose contractions are expected to influenc...

The human placenta exhibits unique structural and multifunctional features. It is known to have the capacity to synthesize, store and secrete hormones of the hypothalamohypophyseal axis, but the existence of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides in the human placenta has attracted a great deal of attention. This is especially important when it is considered that the placenta is a non-innervated o...

www.aana.com/aanajournalonline.aspx The rate of cesarean delivery in the United States is at an all-time high. With the increased rate of primary and repeated cesarean delivery, a corresponding increase in the occurrence rate of placenta previa and placenta accreta has been observed. The purpose of this case report is to discuss the obstetric disorder of placenta previa with the concurrent occu...

Placenta previa totalis can cause life-threatening massive postpartum hemorrhage, and careful anesthetic management is essential. Preventive uterine artery embolization (UAE) before placental expulsion was introduced to reduce postpartum bleeding in cases of placenta previa totalis. We describe the case of a 40-year-old woman (gravida 0, para 0) with placenta previa totalis and uterine myomas w...

BACKGROUND The incidence of placenta previa has been increasing. It is of a great importance to determine the clinical risk factors for peripartum blood transfusion in women with placenta previa in an effort to anticipate cases of severe hemorrhage. METHODS A total of 129 consecutive cases of placenta previa (64 cases of complete placenta previa and 65 cases of marginal placenta previa), incl...

Ingestion of amniotic fluid and placenta by rats has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated analgesia. The present studies were designed to examine the effect of several doses and volumes of placenta and amniotic fluid on tail-flick latency in rats treated with 3 mg/kg morphine. The optimal dose of amniotic fluid was found to be 0.25 ml, although 0.50 and 1.0 ml also produced significant enhance...

Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) affects ovarian and testicular steroidogenesis, is produced by the placenta, and increases chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) production in preterm placenta. It was hypothesized that GnRH might also regulate placental synthesis of progesterone (P) and estradiol (E2) and the effects were studied of GnRH and the [D-Trp6]-LH-RH analog on the production of P, E2, and...

OBJECTIVES Placenta previa is a major cause of neonatal anemia. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the risk factors of neonatal anemia in placenta previa. METHODS The study was conducted on 158 placenta previa patients at 3 hospitals in affiliation with the Catholic Medical Center, Seoul, Korea from May 1999 through December 2009. The subjects were divided in to 2 groups: 47 placenta ...

The activity of monoamine oxidase (MAO), an enzyme which metabolized catecholamines and indoleamines, was determined in rat placenta at various stages of gestation, in human term placenta, and in choriocarcinoma grown in culture. From Day 15 to Day 20 of gestation the specific activity (units/mg protein) of MAO in rat placenta increased at least 3-fold; from Day 20 to the time of parturition, i...