Ultrasonic manifestations and pregnancy outcomes of abnormally thickened placenta
ZHOU Lei
YANG Jin
LI Lingmin
ZHU Guoying
ZHAO Jie
Abstract：Objective To explore the ultrasonic manifestations of abnormally thickened placenta and its rela-tionship with pregnancy outcomes,providing imaging evidence for prenatal identification of high-risk pregnancies.Methods Eighty singleton pregnant women who underwent prenatal ultrasound examination and had their placental thickness status clearly defined were retrospectively selected.The subjects were divided into the control group(28 cases),placental thickening group(24 cases),and abnormally thickened placenta group(28 cases)based on the pla-cental thickness measured in the first ultrasound.Ultrasonic indicators[fetal growth restriction(FGR),placental thick-ness,and placental morphological features(whether combined with placental spherical changes or other placental morpho-logical abnormalities),fetal hemodynamics(abnormal blood flow spectra of the umbilical artery and middle cerebral ar-tery)],delivery outcomes[delivery mode(cesarean section or vaginal delivery),placental abruption,induction of labor or other fetal loss],neonatal outcomes[abnormal neonatal Apgar score,low birth weight or preterm birth],and placental pathological indicators[placental villous infarction,placental chorioamnionitis(including chorioamnionitis)]were com-pared among the groups.For outcome indicators with a small number of cases,only descriptive analysis was conducted.Results The incidence of FGR and placental spherical changes in the abnormally thickened placenta group was higher than that in the control group and the placental thickening group,and the incidence of placental spherical changes in the placental thickening group was higher than that in the control group(all P<0.05);abnormal blood flow spectra were only observed in the abnormally thickened placenta group.The cesarean section rate and placental abruption rate in the abnor-mally thickened placenta group were higher than those in the control group and the placental thickening group,and the ce-sarean section rate and placental abruption rate in the placental thickening group were higher than those in the control group(all P<0.05);induction of labor or other fetal loss was only observed in the abnormally thickened placenta group.The incidence of abnormal neonatal Apgar score in the abnormally thickened placenta group was higher than that in the con-trol group and the placental thickening group,and the incidence of abnormal neonatal Apgar score in the placental thicken-ing group was higher than that in the control group(all P<0.05);low birth weight or preterm infants were only observed in the abnormally thickened placenta group.The incidence of placental villous infarction or placental chorioamnionitis in the abnormally thickened placenta group was higher than that in the control group and the placental thickening group,and the incidence of placental villous infarction or placental chorioamnionitis in the placental thickening group was higher than that in the control group(all P<0.05).Conclusion Abnormally thickened placenta,especially when combined with spheri-cal changes,is associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction,adverse delivery and neonatal outcomes,and placental pathological abnormalities.
Keywords：abnormally thickened placentaplacental spherical changeultrasonic examinationpregnancy out-comefetal growth restriction
Publication Date：2026-02-25
Online Publishing Date：2026-03-19(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 100-104 )