Abstract

Usually, diagnoses are made on placentas after delivery by taking large samples from which very thin slices are generated and placed on glass slides for microscopic evaluation. Cytology techniques used in this study differed from this because placental material was obtained by scraping the cut surface of the placenta or by suctioning material into a syringe (fine needle aspiration or FNA). Slides generated from these techniques differed in the views of the placental tissue they could provide. The study demonstrated unique views of some placental features including the very distinctive but ununderstood way in which nuclei are arranged in lines in a key structure of the placenta, the syncytiotrophoblast. Viewing these arrangements using cytology techniques may provide insights into their function that may in turn help us understand processes involved in some placental diseases that lead to pregnancy complications. The study also demonstrated that placental material may be obtained by FNA; this finding may open a conversation as to whether the technique may be used to biopsy placentas during pregnancy to make pathological diagnosis, something that is not currently possible. It is more likely however that FNA may become a new research tool for investigating placental development and disease.