Placentitis–Placental and Post-Mortem Examination

Performance of a thorough placental examination, he said, requires a basic understanding of placental anatomy and some familiarity with the gross features found in a normal placenta.
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Donald Schlafer, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVP, ACVIM, ACT, professor of comparative obstetrical and gynecological pathology in the college of veterinary medicine at Cornell University, presented a detailed account of how a veterinarian might carry out a post-mortem examination of the equine placenta, fetus, and neonate at the 50th annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in Denver, Colo., Dec. 4-8, 2004. Performance of a thorough placental examination, he said, requires a basic understanding of placental anatomy and some familiarity with the gross features found in a normal placenta.

"Two essentials of a thorough gross placental examination," he said, "are (1) that one can distinguish normal features and common artifacts from lesions that may have diagnostic significance, and (2) that one knows how to collect an appropriate set of samples for submission to a diagnostic laboratory."

Step number one when examining a placenta, Schlafer said, is simplified by first finding the cord and carefully unfolding and flattening the three 'arms' of the Y-shaped chorioallantoic membrane (the outer membrane in the placenta). One of the first concerns, he emphasized, is to check for completeness because retention of pieces of the tips of the horns is relatively common and can have serious consequences if they remain inside the mare's uterus.

The umbilical cord also should be examined, he said, to determine if cord torsion has occurred, something that is not uncommon in the horse. Undue twisting of the cord can obstruct blood and urine flow

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Les Sellnow was a prolific freelance writer based near Riverton, Wyoming. He specialized in articles on equine research, and operated a ranch where he raised horses and livestock. He authored several fiction and nonfiction books, including Understanding Equine Lameness and Understanding The Young Horse. He died in 2023.

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