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Chronic Villitis

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Pathology of the Placenta

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Abstract

An anatomical and metabolic interface between the mother and the fetus, villous placenta (placental disc) is of the utmost importance for the well-being of the fetus. In this context, chronic villitis leading to destruction of chorionic villi has robust clinical implications. The primary pathology of chronic villitis is the infiltration of chronic inflammatory cells (lymphocytes, plasma cells, and histiocytes) associated with destruction of the chorionic villi. A unique and scientifically important feature of chronic villitis is the fact that maternal lymphocytes are primary players of inflammation in the fetal chorionic villi in many occasions. Aetiologies of chronic villitis documented so far are infections by various organisms, yet it is evident that the most common form of chronic villitis, known as villitis of unknown aetiology, results from maternal immune responses against the fetus. This chapter will describe the pathological findings of representative examples of infectious chronic villitis and villitis of unknown aetiology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Chong Jai Kim

  2. Department of Pathology and Translational Genomics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan Univerisity School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Jung-Sun Kim

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  1. Chong Jai Kim
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Correspondence to Chong Jai Kim .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomical Pathology, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, North Adelaide, SA, Australia

    T. Yee Khong

  2. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

    Eoghan E. Mooney

  3. Department of Pathology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Peter G. J. Nikkels

  4. Department of Pathology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Terry K. Morgan

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Sanne J. Gordijn

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Kim, C.J., Kim, JS. (2019). Chronic Villitis. In: Khong, T., Mooney, E., Nikkels, P., Morgan, T., Gordijn, S. (eds) Pathology of the Placenta. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97214-5_29

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