Home About the Journal Editors International Editorial Board Instructions for Authors Abstracting&Indexing E-pub Ahead Of Print Contact This journal is a member of, and subscribes to the principles of, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Table of Contents [ PDF ] [ Similar Articles ] DOI: 10.5146/tjpath.2020.01506 Villitis of Unknown Etiology in the Placenta of a Pregnancy Complicated by COVID-19 Erdener OZER1, Erkan CAGLIYAN2, Resmiye Irmak YUZUGULDU1, Mustafa Cüneyt CEVIZCI1, Nuray DUMAN3 1Department of Pathology, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, IZMIR, TURKEY 2Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, IZMIR, TURKEY 3Department of Neonatology, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, IZMIR, TURKEY Keywords: COVID-19, Placenta, SARS-CoV-2, Villitis of unknown etiology Villitis of unknown etiology (VUE) is noninfectious chronic villitis thought to be associated with fetal growth restriction and stillbirth. COVID-19 and the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause an increased risk in pregnant women for potential maternal and fetal complications from an immunological mechanism. We report a 39-week-gestational-age infant delivered to a 37-year-old mother diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection at 37 weeks gestation. The placental examination showed the morphological features of VUE. We showed immunohistochemically that macrophages and CD4-positive T cells predominated in the villous tissue, although elevated numbers of CD8-positive cells were also present. We hypothesize that VUE may represent a maternal anti-viral immune response, in this case to SARS-CoV-2. [ PDF ] [ Similar Articles ]