Pathogenesis of Amniotic BandOrigin

Overview

Objective:
Amniotic band syndrome (ABS) is a rare clinical entity presenting with deformities ofthe limbs, craniofacial skeleton, thorax, soft tissues and umbilical cord. The importance of ABShas increased in the 90s in association with invasive diagnostic techniques such as amniocentesisor fetal blood sampling, and more recently even with exposure to some drugs (misoprostol). We decided, therefore, to investigate the mechanism of amniotic adhesion, most important from thepoint of the malformation origin.Design: Experimental study.Setting: Charles University, 3rd Medical Faculty, Center of Biomedical Science, Department ofhistology and embryology, Prague.Methods: Basing upon our previous experience, we used as a suitable model the developing chickinjected intraamniotically on day 4 with whole calf thymus histone.Results: Adhesions between the embryonic body and amniotic membrane accompanied by presen-ce of necrotic cells were followed by deterioration mimicking all symptoms of ABS.Conclusion: Some intraamniotic drugs can damage both the amniotic membrane and the surfaceembryonic epithelium inducing the typical manifestation of ABS.

Key words:
amniotic band syndrome, experimental model