الفهرس 
Acknowledgement
Anatomy and Pathology of the Umbilical CordOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The umbilical cord is the lifeline between the fetus and placenta. It is formed by the fifth week of development; its length at full time, as a rule, is about equal to the length of the fetus, i.e., about 50 cm., but it may be greatly diminished or increased. and it functions throughout pregnancy to protect the vessels that travel between the fetus and the placenta. The umbilical cord normally contains 2 arteries and a single vein and its three blood vessels course through Wharton’s jelly in ahelical Fashion, completing 10-11 coils between the fetal and placental insertion site.
Compromise of the fetal blood flow through the umbilical cord vessels can have serious deleterious effects on the health of the fetus and newborn.
For several decades, the morphological and the morphometric aspects of the umbilical Cord have been studied retrospectively correlated with the perinatal outcome by Pathologists after delivery the reason for this was mainly due to the limited resolution of the ultrasound equipments used for obstetrical ultrasonography in most institutions.
The introduction of more sophisticated imaging techniques and an increasing interest in The umbilical cord ultrastructure have led to a better understanding of the mechanisms which regulate the development of the fetus.
Umbilical cord is a structure always visible at the ultrasound in the late first trimester, in most cases it is visualized entirely. Sonographycally measured the umbilical cord diameters and its correlation with the growth of fetus is investigated in many literatures now.
The increase in the size of the umbilical cord in early gestation is due to mainly a progressive enlargement of the umbilical cord vessels. The aim of our study is to establish umbilical cord nomograms of the second and third trimester and to determine its relationship with other fetal biometric parameters in pregnancy with normal growth fetuse and in pregnancy with IUGR.
Evaluation of the umbilical cord can be accomplished either from the long-axis view, or from a cross sectional view. the latter method is more appropriate because it allows a quantification not only of the umbilical vessels’ size but also of the amount of the Wharton’s jelly.
This study was performed in Women health center at Assiut university Hospital. Between may 2010- September 2011, among 320 pregnant women whose were appropriate for our criteria included in our study. The result demonstrated the expected progressive increase of the umbilical cord circumference and diameter as a function of gestational age in normal growth fetuses. These changes were not consistent in the umbilical cord of IUGR fetuses.
It can be concluded that the cross-sectional areas of the umbilical cord components are important factors to consider when evaluating fetal growth, should be performed during the routine scans in pregnancy for improvement of the neonatal outcome and maternal health.