402 



Fetal Hemorrhage and Vitamin E 



this particular stage of development. In more than 1600 rats autopsied or 

 laparotomized at the sixteenth day in routine bio-assay tests, approximately 

 22 per cent have possessed one or more dead fetuses in utero. As many as four 

 or five such fetuses were sometimes encountered in a single uterus. 



A preliminary study demonstrated that administration of small amounts 

 of vitamin E as late as the twelfth day readily prevents the occurrence of 

 fetal death at the sixteenth day of pregnancy, and also improves the bio-assay 

 response (table 1). 



Histologically, many viable fetuses removed from uteri containing dead 

 fetuses and resorption sites were normal in every respect. Other live fetuses, 



TABLE 1 



Effect of Additional Vitamin E, Administered on the Tenth and on the Twelfth Days 



OF Pregnancy, upon the Incidence of Dead Fetuses at the 



Sixteenth Day of Gestation 



and dead fetuses in which early stages of autolysis were apparent, usually 

 showed a paucity of blood cells in the vessels of the fetus, yolk sac, and fetal 

 placenta, resembling the conditions noted in earlier fetuses by Evans and 

 Burr.^ There were certain exceptions, however, which suggested that fetal 

 death might be attributable to causes other than decreased hematopoiesis. 

 Furthermore, a study of stained smears of the liver and blood of low-E fetuses 

 revealed no qualitative disturbances of hematopoietic activity. Other organs 

 and tissues appeared normal histologically and showed considerable mitotic 

 activity up to the time of death, following which autolysis of the fetal tissues 

 was rapid. On the other hand, certain blood vessels of the fetus were fre- 

 quently distended with blood cells whose staining reactions suggested stasis, 

 while other vessels appeared normal in size but relatively empty. Occasionally 

 there was evidence of hemorrhage into the adjacent tissues, even in embryos 

 which showed no evidence of autolysis. 



These findings called to mind hemorrhagic areas previously noted in many 

 fetuses removed from uteri when interest was centered upon establishing cri- 

 teria of response to assay dose based upon the weight of the uterine contents 

 at the sixteenth day (Mason'). These areas, attributed at that time to trauma 



sites in which the total weight of the placenta, fetus, and intact fetal membranes exceeds 0.4 

 gm. The usual weight of dead fetuses and their adnexa varied from 0.70 to 1.2 gm., that of 

 associated living fetuses from 0.92 to 1.34 gin. 



