160 



STUDIES ON PATHOLOGIC OVA. 



being exposed. The embryo is stunted, as disclosed by 

 the featureless head and face and poorly developed brain. 



(5) The specimen is somewhat macerated and markedly 

 dissociated. The ear seems to be displaced and the face 

 is partly adherent to the body, but most of the structures 

 are normal in form. There are curious warts on the sur- 

 face of the skin, one on the side of the head being especially 

 prominent. The walls of the blood-vessels are not sharply 

 denned. 



(6) No decidua or chorion. 



No. 936. 



(1) John A. Leutscher, Baltimore, Maryland. 



(2) A 80X40X15 mm.; B 9 mm. 



(4) The specimen consists of a pear-shaped abortion 

 mass measuring 80X40X15 mm., covered almost com- 

 pletely with a decidual cast, except at the lower pole, 

 where the chorion is exposed. Here the villi measure 6 

 mm. in length. The cavity, which is circular, measures 

 about 35 mm. in diameter, and shows only delicate shreds 

 of amniotic tissue; otherwise, no amnion is to be seen. 

 Projecting into the cavity is an irregular embryonic rudi- 

 ment 9 mm. long, with a thick, white umbilical cord about 

 the same length; 7 mm. distant from its point of attach- 

 ment to the chorion is a flattened opaque sac, 3 mm. in 

 diameter. The embryo was evidently badly macerated, 

 as well as seriously hurt mechanically. On the left side 

 the stump could be distinguished; on the right only the 

 leg could be made out. 



(5) The chorion and amnion are fibrous, and the yolk- 

 sac is a solid mass of neerotic material. The villi are 

 fibrous and covered with large clumps of trophoblast. 

 There is considerable trophoblast substance and a stringy 

 substance in the intervillous spaces. The head of the 

 embryo is missing, and sections show that the upper 

 part of the body ends in a ragged stump. The tissues are 

 markedly dissociated, but most of the organs can still be 

 made out. The dissociation is especially pronounced in 

 the tips of the extremities, as well as in the vertebral col- 

 umn. In place of the spinal cord there is a slit extending 

 throughout the length of the embryo, on either side of 

 which are two strands of round cells in the position of the 

 dorsal ganglia. These appear like blood-vessels filled with 

 blood rather than nerve cells. In the lower part of the 

 body one of these strands has undergone a peculiar fibrous 

 degeneration. It appears much like a small neuroma. 



(6) Intense infiltration; probably some hydatiform de- 

 generation. 



No. 958. 



(1) Frederick J. Beitler, Baltimore, Maryland. 



(2) A 31X22X20 mm.; B 13mm. 



(3) Patient married about 4 years. Three pregnancies, 

 first and second ending at term, and this abortion. Con- 

 dition of uterus normal, no infection, no venereal diseases. 

 Five children on maternal side of family and 3 on paternal. 



(4) The choripnic mass measures 31X22X20 mm. 

 and is covered with villi and enmeshed blood-clot, except 

 for a denuded area 10 mm. in diameter. On opening the 

 chorionic sac there appears a mass of semi-solidified 

 magma, removal of which revealed a well-preserved embryo 

 showing signs of arrested development. 



(5) The degenerate chorion is entirely lined by the 

 amnion. Its main wall is thin and covered with clumps 

 of degenerate, fibrous villi which are matted together 

 with trophoblast and mucoid substance. Within there 

 is a great deal of granular magma. The embryo is 

 stunted and greatly dissociated. The head is closely 

 adherent to the body, the face atrophic, and the spinal 

 cord open below, with the cord protruding. The organs, 

 however, can be fairly well outlined. Most of the blood- 

 vessels are filled with blood, but all the tissues are disso- 

 ciated. 



(6) Decidua absent. 



No. 962. 



(1) Joseph M. Jackson, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 



(2) A 34X28X24 mm.; B 10 mm. (est.). 



(3) A patient aged 32 years; married 12 years. Six 

 pregnancies. 



(4) The specimen consists of a chorionic sac covered 

 almost entirely by villi, and measuring 34X28X24 mm. 

 On opening it, a cloud of fine, opaque particles exuded; 

 otherwise the chorionic cavity was filled by a reticulated 

 semitransparent network which bridges it from wall to wall. 



(5) A piece of chorionic sac, thicker than the rest, was 

 cut into serial sections, and in this was found a macerated 

 embryo of about the 10 mm. stage. The wall of the cho- 

 rion and its well-developed villi are fibrous and macerated. 

 Some of them are closely matted together with neerotic 

 trophoblast, and most of them contain degenerating ves- 

 sels. The stroma of the villi also seems to be invaded by 

 a great deal of nuclear dust and also many sprouts of tro- 

 phoblast. The embryo is closely encircled by the amnion 

 and greatly macerated, the organs and cavities being prac- 

 tically obliterated. Marked autolysis of the decidua. 



(6) Some (?) local infiltration. 



No. 983a. 



(1) J. F. Hempel, Baltimore, Maryland. 



(2) A 70X50X30 mm.; B 18 mm. 



(4) The specimen consists of a thickened and discolored 

 chorionic sac 70X50X30 mm. On opening it, a yel- 

 lowish, watery fluid, with brownish, fragile clumps, es- 

 caped. After this was drained off an embryo 18 mm. 

 long and apparently badly macerated, was found attached 

 by an umbilical cord 1 1 mm. long. 



(5) The villi are mostly atrophic, and at certain points 

 the intervillous spaces are distended with blood. The 

 tissues do not stain well, and the organs, which can 

 barely be outlined, are badly macerated. The head is 

 somewhat atrophic. 



(6) Decidua very neerotic. 



No. 993. 



(1) L. W. Haynes, Detroit, Michigan. 



(2) A 48X41X15 mm.; B 7 mm. (est.). 



(3) Patient aged 42 years; has 3 children living, 8, 6, 

 and 3 years, respectively. About 10 years before the 

 abortion she had a bad fall and miscarried at 3 months. 

 That was the only miscarriage except the present one. 

 On May 3 she fell down a short flight of steps, sustaining 

 a large bruise on the right hip. Several hours later she 

 began to flow. At that time the patient was two weeks 

 overtime for her period, but had none of her usual symp- 

 toms of pregnancy. The flow continued until May 5, 

 when the specimen passed. 



(4) The specimen consists of a partially collapsed amni- 

 otic sac measuring 48X41X15 mm. The villi are thin 

 and transparent, and divide several times. On opening 

 the sac there was an escape of turbid fluid containing a 

 very fine precipitate. On rinsing this out the fragments 

 of an embryo were found, consisting of an atrophic head 

 and the tail portion of an embryo about 7 mm. long. 



(6) No decidua. Sections include the chorion, amnion 

 and villi, but do not stain well. Histolysis is almost com- 

 plete. 



No. 1022e. 



(1) Ernest C. Lehnert, Baltimore, Maryland. 



(2) 33X22X15 mm. 



(4) Specimen is a portion of an inverted chorionic sac 

 with peculiar, long, branching villi, some of which measure 

 16 mm. The embryo is stunted and the arms are atrophic. 

 Under examination with the binocular scattered hydati- 

 form villi are seen, although the vesicle is degenerate. 



(5) Examination under higher magnification confirms 

 the presence of undoubted hydatiform degeneration, al- 

 though there is no unusual increase in epithelium. The 

 decidua is extremely degenerate. 



(6) Partial hydatiform degeneration. 



