Morphological changes in fetal organs and tissues in intrauterine death

Abstract

This article presents a literature review of post-mortem changes in the organs and tissues of the fetus in intrauterine death. The visual and morphological changes that can serve to determine the time of post-mortem changes in organs and tissues at various stages of pregnancy are covered. A detailed study of post-mortem changes in the fetus will help avoid medical errors and unjustified criminal prosecutions, provide an opportunity for an objective assessment of the consequences and causes of intrauterine fetal death, eliminate discrepancies in clinical and pathoanatomic diagnoses, and increase the accuracy of diagnosis and the quality of knowledge. Сomprehension of the key principles for assessing morphological changes in fetal organs and tissues in intrauterine death will allow for developing screening programs to identify relevant risk factors, which, in the future, will reduce perinatal mortality rates.