Placental examinations in two perinatal autopsies (cases 2 and 3). (A) Acute chorioamnionitis at chorionic plate, case 2 (hematoxylin and eosin [H&E], 100 ×). (B) Acute vasculitis (inflammation of vascular wall) of chorionic fetal blood vessel, case 2 (H&E, 200 ×). (C) Rod-shaped bacterial microorganisms in the lumen of umbilical cord blood vessel, case 3 (H&E, 600 ×). (D) Gram stain of (C), indicting gram-negative rods (Gram stain, 600 ×). Pregnancy and Perinatal Outcomes Associated with Acinetobacter baumannii Infection. He M, Kostadinov S, Gundogan F, Struminsky J, Pinar H, Sung CJ - AJP reports (2013). Not Altered. CC.
Perinatal infections are acquired just before birth often after rupture of membranes or as the neonate passes through the birth canal. Perinatal infections are typically acquired transcervically (ascending) or transplacentally (hematologically).
- Transcervical (ascending) Infections tend to be bacterial or viral.
- Transplacental (hematologic) infections are typically parasitic parasitic, but can be viral and occasionally bacterial.
