148 



STUDIES ON PATHOLOGIC OVA. 



(5) Sections of the chorion show a marked degeneration 

 of its stroma and walls, nearly all of its villi having been 

 destroyed. The few fragments of villi that remain are 

 embedded in blood and riddled with cells of the syncytial 

 layer. The mesodermal layer of the chorion no longer is 

 sharply defined, and is more or less filled with cells with 

 fragmented nuclei, the origin of which can not be de- 

 termined. The embryo is of the five or six weeks' stage, 

 with pretty sharply defined organs and tissues which are 

 more or less dissociated and infiltrated with round cells. 

 Most of the epidermis has fallen off. In the region of the 

 olfactory pit, which is almost obliterated, the epidermis 

 forms two marked horn-like elevations. The central 

 nervous system is swollen and dissociated more than the 

 remaining tissues of the body, the change being greater 

 in the brain than in the cord. The vascular system is 

 gorged with blood, which is beginning to invade the 

 surrounding tissues. This is most marked in the umbilical 

 cord, which appears edematous. 



(6) Decidua absent; not enough chorion present. 



No. 177. 



(1) R. G. Harrison, Baltimore, Maryland. 



(2) B 12 mm. 



(5) The sections show, well outlined, all the organs of 

 an embryo at the end of the fifth week, but they are dis- 

 sociated and swollen. The head is beginning to become 

 stumpy, and the frontal process is necrotic and commencing 

 to fall off. So extensive is the dissociation of the head 

 that the brain has become practically solid, the vesicles 

 being nearly obliterated. The process is not so extensive 

 in the spinal cord. Most of the epidermis has fallen off. 

 The vascular system is greatly distended with blood, which 

 is infiltrating the tissues, especially those surrounding the 

 larger arteries and veins. In general the tissues show the 

 changes always seen in embryos which have been grad- 

 ually strangulated before the abortion. In this speci- 

 men there is one marked variation in the changes usually 

 found. The precartilage outlines all of the vertebra? and 

 ribs, but no true cartilage is yet formed in them. Back 

 of the ejes in the occipital region on either side of the 

 head, there are two cartilages which are too well developed 

 for an embryo in this stage. A more advanced stage of 

 cartilage was found in embryo No. 135, described above. 



(6) Decidua and chorion absent. 



No. 188. 



(1) G. N. Sommer, Trenton, New Jersey. 



(2) A 45X40X40 mm.; B 17 mm. 



(3) "Last menstruation began January 6; bleeding 

 began March 19, and ended in a few hours with the 

 abortion. The unopened ovum was immediately placed 

 in 95 per cent alcohol." 



(5) The ccelom is filled with granular magma, the 

 chorionic membrane is absent, and the villi very fibrous 

 and mostly lacking. The organs of the embryo are all 

 normal in form and approximately of the degree of develop- 

 ment for an embryo of this size. The tissues are dis- 

 sociated somewhat, the most marked being that of the 

 brain. The veins of the body are all gorged with blood, 

 with but little migration of blood-cells into the surrounding 

 tissues. The decidua is somewhat fibrous and degenerate. 



(6) Slight infiltration of degenerate decidua. 



No. 200. 



(1) Max Brodel, Baltimore, Maryland. 



(2) A 35X25X20 mm.; B 14 mm. 



(5) The central nervous system is dissociated and 

 macerated very much, the form of the brain and spinal 

 cord being lost entirely. The organs are all disintegrated, 

 the liver being necrotic. There is ulceration of the front 

 of the head, but the epidermis is intact over the rest of 

 it, in spite of the extensive internal change. The walls 

 of the umbilical vesicle are broken down entirely and its 

 lumen is filled with a mass of necrotic cells. The amnion, 



chorion, and villi are more fibrous than normal. The villi 

 are non-vascular and show "granular hyperplasia. " The 

 nodules of trophoblast are quite necrotic and some of the 

 villi are glued. 



No. 201. 



(1) Max Brodel, Baltimore, Maryland. 



(2) A 80X60X50 mm.; B 20mm. 



(4) The ovum was received without villi, and when 

 opened was found to be filled with a fluid which had 

 hardened into a jelly in formalin. The embryo is atrophic 

 with a necrotic mass on top of the head. 



(5) The fleshy chorion proved to be a mixture of true 

 chorion, villi, blood, fibrin, decidua, pus and syncytium. 

 The layers show all stages of disintegration. The meso- 

 derm of the villi is fibrous and at many points is invaded 

 by leucocytes and syncytium. At other points the syncy- 

 tium invades the blood- clot and frequently maternal 

 blood sinuses are rilled with leucocytes and syncytium. 

 Within the embryo most extensive changes have taken 

 place. The brain is greatly deformed and severed, through 

 a growth of tissue from the spinal cord in the region of 

 the medulla, back of the deformed ear. In fact, the brain 

 is included within the cap-like body on top of the head. 

 The spinal cord begins quite abruptly in the upper cervi- 

 cal region and ends in the same way in the upper lumbar 

 region. At its end there is a curious fibrous tumor meas- 

 uring half the diameter of the cord. The cord, so far as 

 it is developed, appears to be normal, but somehow dis- 

 sociated. Below the upper lumbar region the spinal cord 

 is wholly lacking, the spinal canal being filled with meso- 

 dermal tissue rich in blood-vessels. Where it is missing, 

 most of the spinal nerves appear to remain, and many 

 dorsal ganglia can be made out. This all indicates that 

 the changes in the central nervous system took place 

 after the spinal nerves were developed. The eyes are 

 united into a single one with a double retina, two lenses, 

 a single choroid, and a single optic nerve; back of this they 

 are double. It certainly appears as if the two eyes had 

 wandered together and united in the middle line. The 

 epidermis is quite complete, but is broken through at the 

 back of the head. The extensive ulcer which is found here 

 is very rich in blood-vessels, involves the walls of the brain, 

 but does not reach into its ventricle. At the highest point 

 of the head the epidermis has developed into a papilli- 

 form body; below this there is a large necrotic area in 

 which is found a great quantity of yellow pigment gran- 

 ules. The mouth is closed, although the alimentary canal 

 from there to the stomach is open and appears normal. 

 The intestine is matted together, the cloaca and anus 

 being obliterated. The epithelium of the upper portion 

 of the intestine shows marked growths into this matted 

 mass. The thoracic region, liver, and vascular system 

 have undergone practically no change. The extensive 

 growth of mesodermal tissue throughout the embryo has 

 caused an extensive destruction and arrest of further 

 development of the muscular system. This is shown by 

 secondary changes in the connective tissue, especially 

 that of the skin, which is markedly fibrous. Here the 

 change is so great that it obliterated the external auditory 

 canal entirely. 



(6) Marked infiltration of the decidua. 



No. 207 a, b. 



(1) Max Brodel, Baltimore, Maryland. 



(2) A 70X45X45 mm.; B 16mm. 



(4) The specimen is smooth, with small villi at one of 

 the poles. Within are two embryos, both macerated with 

 atrophic heads. The larger measures 16 mm.; the other 

 is a little smaller, but as it is broken an exact measure- 

 ment could not be made. The cords of both embryos are 

 atrophic. There is some granular magma within the 

 amniotic cavity, with several large clumps in the coelom 

 where the two amnions meet. 



(5) Sections of the membranes show that the chorion is 

 denuded of most of its villi, except over the point of 



