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- Volume 17 (1998)
- Number 1 - June 1998
- Quantitative characterization of the branching of placental villous capillaries
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Quantitative characterization of the branching of placental villous capillaries
Abstract
The topological properties and spatial arrangement of the capillary bed in terminal villi of normal human placentas were studied using confocal microscopy. The Euler number of capillaries was estimated in villi sampled by the optical dissector principle. The corresponding topological reconstructions were made and surface renderings of selected villi and their capillary bed were performed. The capillary bed with no redundant connections was found in 80 per cent of villi, those with one connection in 15 per cent and those with two connections in 4 per cent of cases. It is concluded that in the terminal villi of normal placentas the longitudinal growth of capillaries appears to predominate over their branching.