A month ago I underwent uterine curettage. In the 8th week of pregnancy it turned out that the fetal heart did not beat. After the procedure, a section was taken for histopathological examination. The doctor informed me that from this study I would learn about possible diseases that could have contributed to the death of the fetus. Three weeks after the procedure, I received a result which did not say "histopathological examination results", but "pathomorphological examination results". Is it the same study or two different? If different, is a histopathological examination necessary in the case of a stillborn pregnancy? With the result, I went to the doctor because I didn't understand anything. The doctor informed me that the result says I was pregnant. When I asked if the examination was to show any defect in the fetus, if any, the doctor replied that it was not at all. So I don't understand why the test clipping was taken, since I didn't learn anything from it anyway.

Pathomorphology is a broader term than histopathology. Pathomorphology describes macroscopic and microscopic changes. Only microscopic histopathology. Each removed tissue is sent for histopathological examination. In the case of post-miscarriage tissues, it is assessed whether or not there are any embryonic tissues, and if they are absent, an ectopic pregnancy should be excluded. Occasionally, under the microscope, lesions that are characteristic of some type of infection are visible. There are also changes typical of abnormal trophoblast growth. It is for these reasons that tissues are examined.

In the 8th week of pregnancy, the fetus is 1-1.5 cm, most of the organs are just beginning to develop. It is not even known yet whether male or female sexual organs will develop and whether there will be any defects at all. Therefore, examining the fetus does not make any sense. Especially that the course of the next pregnancy may be completely different. The information that "you were pregnant" indicates that, as a result of the histopathological examination, apart from the temporal and the tissues of the fetal egg, nothing significant was found.

Remember that our expert's answer is informative and will not replace a visit to the doctor.

Barbara Grzechocińska

Assistant professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Medical University of Warsaw. I acceptprivately in Warsaw at ul. Krasińskiego 16 m 50 (registration is available every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.).

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