Comparison of diameter-based and image-based measures of surface area from gross placental pathology for use in epidemiologic studies

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Alexa A. Freedman, Emory University; Lauren M. Kipling, Emory University; Katie Labgold, Emory University; Carmen Marsit, Emory University; Carol J Hogue, Emory University; Augustine Rajakumar, Emory University; Alicia Smith, Emory University; Halit Pinar, Brown University; Deborah L. Conway, University of Texas Health Science Center; Radek Bukowski, University of Texas Austin; Michael W. Varner, University of Utah; Robert L. Goldenberg, Columbia University; Donald J. Dudley, University of Virginia; Carolyn Drews-Botsch, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-09-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2018.07.013
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Placenta
• ISSN: 0143-4004
• Volume: 69
• Start Page: 82
• End Page: 85
• Grant/Funding Information: AAF was supported by grant funding from the NICHD (grants F31HD092025 and T32HD052460); and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration (grant T03MC07651).; The Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network was supported by grant funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); (grants U10-HD045953 (Brown University); U10-HD045925 (Emory University); U10-HD045952 (University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston); U10-HD045955 (University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio); U10-HD045944 (University of Utah Health Sciences Center); U10-HD045954 and HHSN275201400001C (RTI International)).
• Keywords: GESTATIONAL-AGE; Validation; WEIGHT; Developmental Biology; SHAPE; Placental surface area; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Obstetrics & Gynecology; Reproductive Biology; STILLBIRTH; RELIABILITY; Assumption; Science & Technology
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Health Sciences, Pathology; Health Sciences, Epidemiology

Abstract

Placental surface area is often estimated using diameter measurements. However, as many placentas are not elliptical, we were interested in the validity of these estimates. We compared placental surface area from images for 491 singletons from the Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network (SCRN) Study (416 live births, 75 stillbirths) to estimates obtained using diameter measurements. Placental images and diameters were obtained from pathologic assessments conducted for the SCRN Study and images were analyzed using ImageJ software. On average, diameter-based measures underestimated surface area by −5.58% (95% confidence interval: −30.23, 19.07); results were consistent for normal and abnormal shapes. The association between surface area and birthweight was similar for both measures. Thus, diameter-based surface area can be used to estimate placental surface area.