Prenatal assessment of Wharton's jelly in umbilical cords with single artery

Abstract

A reduction of Wharton's jelly is frequently present in cases of single umbilical artery. The increased perinatal morbidity and mortality observed in cases of single umbilical artery, even in the absence of congenital or chromosomal abnormalities, could be in part the consequence of a reduced amount of Wharton's jelly.

The impact of isolated single umbilical artery on labor and delivery outcome

“…Raio et al . demonstrated that the amount of Wharton's jelly is significantly lower in isolated SUA comparing with normal umbilical cords . Thus, it can be assumed that lacking the appropriate cushion, which prevents compression or bending of the umbilical cord, exposes the fetuses to be more vulnerable for blood‐flow disruption during labor.…”

Ductus venosus blood flow velocity characteristics of fetuses with single umbilical artery

“…Several studies have investigated the umbilical cord morphology and the Doppler blood flow characteristics of a number of fetal and extrafetal arteries in fetuses with SUA2–6. Persutte and Lenke7 and others8, 9 noted that the SUA is usually larger than are the arteries of normal umbilical cords. Raio et al 9 demonstrated that not only the artery but also the vein is larger in umbilical cords with SUA compared with those with three vessels.…”

Absence of Wharton’s jelly around the umbilical arteries

“…Raio and Colleagues (1999) reported an association between single umbilical artery and reduction of Wharton's jelly. 5 The water content of the umbilical cord has been studied in detail by Scott and Wilkinson (1978) Oedematous cords had a water content of 93.5% and wrinkled cords had 89.2% water. It was suggested that amount of Wharton's jelly or its water content goes on decreasing with advancing gestation.…”