Normal and Abnormal Transformation of the Spiral Arteries During Pregnancy
Article in press - uncorrected proof J. Perinat. Med. 34 (2006) 447–458 • Copyright ᮊ by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • New York. DOI 10.1515/JPM.2006.089 Normal and abnormal transformation of the spiral arteries during pregnancy Jimmy Espinoza1,2, Roberto Romero1,3,*, Yeon Keywords: Atherosis; immunohistochemistry; impe- Mee Kim1,4, Juan Pedro Kusanovic1, Sonia dance to blood flow; integrin; physiologic transformation Hassan1,2, Offer Erez1, Francesca Gotsch1, of the spiral arteries; placental bed. Nandor Gabor Than1, Zoltan Papp5 and Chong Jai Kim1,4 1 Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD, NIH, DHHS, Anatomy and physiology of the uterine Detroit MI 48201, and Bethesda MD 20892, USA circulation 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne The blood supply of the uterus is provided by the uterine State University School of Medicine, Detroit MI 48201, and ovarian arteries w102x. After entering the myome- USA trium, the uterine arteries give rise to the ‘‘arcuate arter- 3 Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne ies,’’ which branch into the ‘‘radial arteries’’ w102x. The State University School of Medicine, Detroit MI 48201, radial arteries divide into the ‘‘basal arteries,’’ which sup- USA ply the basal portion of the endometrium (critical for 4 Department of Pathology, Wayne State University endometrial regeneration after menstruation) and the School of Medicine, Detroit MI 48201, USA ‘‘spiral arteries,’’ which continue toward the endometrial 5 First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, surface w95x. The term ‘‘spiral arteries’’ reflects the coiled Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary appearance of these vessels, whose role is to supply blood to the upper functional layer of the endometrium, thought to be shed during menstruation w95x.
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