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Infant and perinatal pulmonary hypoplasia frequently associated with brainstem hypodevelopment

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Abstract

Recent anatomo-pathological studies have revealed a frequent associated hypoplasia of both arcuate nucleus and lungs in stillbirths. The purpose of this study is to analyze the lung and brainstem development in sudden unexplained perinatal death and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). A total of 51 cases were investigated. A complete autopsy was performed in each case. Anatomo-pathologic examination of the central autonomic nervous system included an in-depth study on histological serial sections of the brains where the main structures participating in control of the vital functions are located. The stage of lung development was evaluated by macroscopic and microscopic criteria. In 52.9% of cases, a pulmonary hypoplasia was detected. The pulmonary hypoplasia was significantly more frequent in the SIDS group compared to the sudden perinatal unexplained death groups (p < 0.05). In 72.5% of cases, histological examination of the brainstem on serial sections showed hypodevelopment of the brainstem nuclei, particularly hypoplasia, of the arcuate nucleus (60.8%). In 47.1% of cases, pulmonary hypoplasia was associated with brainstem hypodevelopment.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Giulia Ottaviani, MD, PhD, is supported by PUR personal funding, University of Milano, project “Cardiovascular pathology of sudden infant and perinatal death with clinico-pathological correlations”.

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that have no conflict of interest. No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. “Lino Rossi” Research Center for the study and prevention of the unexpected perinatal death and SIDS, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Giulia Ottaviani, Rosaria Mingrone, Anna M. Lavezzi & Luigi Matturri

  2. MED08—Anatomic Pathology, Dipartimento di Scienze Materno-Infantili, University of Milan, Via della Commenda 9, Milan, 20122, Italy

    Giulia Ottaviani

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  1. Giulia Ottaviani
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  2. Rosaria Mingrone
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  3. Anna M. Lavezzi
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  4. Luigi Matturri
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Correspondence to Giulia Ottaviani.

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No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. In particular, there are no competing interests related to this article. All authors have no conflict to disclose.

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Ottaviani, G., Mingrone, R., Lavezzi, A.M. et al. Infant and perinatal pulmonary hypoplasia frequently associated with brainstem hypodevelopment. Virchows Arch 454, 451–456 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-009-0754-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-009-0754-6

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