A textbook of obstetrics . is to be foundpersisting in the epithelial cover-ing of the placental villi. Diseases of the Chorion.—An abnormal condition of thechorion is the persistence of thechorionic villi around the wholeperiphery of the ovum, thus com-pletely enveloping the fetus bythe placenta (placenta membran-acea).1 The degenerations, aside from the normal process ofatrophy, that can affect the chorion villi are of two kinds,—cystic and fibromyxomatous. Cystic Degeneration of the Chorion Villi.—This disease is char-acterized by the hypertrophy of the chorion villi, by their conver-sion i


A textbook of obstetrics . is to be foundpersisting in the epithelial cover-ing of the placental villi. Diseases of the Chorion.—An abnormal condition of thechorion is the persistence of thechorionic villi around the wholeperiphery of the ovum, thus com-pletely enveloping the fetus bythe placenta (placenta membran-acea).1 The degenerations, aside from the normal process ofatrophy, that can affect the chorion villi are of two kinds,—cystic and fibromyxomatous. Cystic Degeneration of the Chorion Villi.—This disease is char-acterized by the hypertrophy of the chorion villi, by their conver-sion into cysts varying in size from that of a millet-seed to agrape or even to a hens egg, connected with one another andwith the base of the chorion by pedicles of greater or lessbreadth. It is further distinguished by the rapid growth of theovum and the consequent expansion of the uterus, usually atthe third to the fourth month ; by the escape of blood fromthe uterine cavity into the vagina, and by the premature expul-. WM mm^ Fig. 76.—Human embryo at thethird week, showing villi covering theentire chorion (Haeckel). 1 See Amer. Tour. Obstetrics, l< p. 851. THE CHORION. I05 sion of the ovum, which is covered over a greater or less part ofits surface with numbers of small, transparent cysts. Within thecavity of the ovum may or may not be found an embryo. This affection of the chorion, from the peculiar and strikingappearance that it gives to the ovum, has attracted much atten-tion, and, from the mystery that formerly surrounded its originand the difference of opinion that existed as to its etiologyand minute anatomy, cystic degeneration of the chorion villi,otherwise known as hydatidiform mole, or dropsy of the chorionvilli, has been the subject of much discussion. First definitelydescribed bySchenk,1 the most extraordinary theories have beenadvanced to account for its occurrence. Regnier de Graaf (1678)believed that each vesicle or little cyst was an unfecundatedovule.


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectobstetrics, bookyear1