Physiology from Paul brown lecture

Question 1

Symptoms and some of the causes and pathology of:
• Pregnancy loss (miscarriage)
• Abnormal pregnancy (eg ectopic pregnancy)
• Molar pregnancy
• Chromosomal disorders (eg Down’s syndrome)

Answer 1

understanding of the placental and fetal pathology associated with;
miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, down syndrome (as an example of chromosomal abnormality), ascending bacterial infection, abruption, diabetes, and the use of opiates in pregnancy.

Question 2

What does increasing progesterone in second half of cycle do to the endometrium

Answer 2

Turns it into decidua (term for the modified endometrium in prep for pregnancy)

Increases vascularity of it and makes stromal cells pro-coagulant to stop bleeding (i.e. period)

Question 3

What cells are on the outer edge of the chorion (outermost fetal membrane around the embryo)

Answer 3

Trophoblast

Question 4

What hormone do trophoblast cells produce

Answer 4

Beta hCG

Question 5

Beta hCG

• target
• function
• clinical use

Answer 5

Target - corpus luteum

Function - stimulate corpus luteum to produce progesterone to stop deicidua from shedding

Detects pregnancy

Question 6

The chorion contributes to the formation of

Answer 6

the placenta (from chorionic villi)

Question 7

The fertilised egg travels to the uterus and burrows in the … then trophoblast cells stream off from the fertilised egg to do what

Answer 7

decidua (modified endometrium)

Invade the vessels in the decidua and link them up with those of the foetus

Question 8

Why is it important that cells in the decidua become procoagulant

Answer 8

Because invasion of trophoblast cells into the mother’s blood vessels in the decidua will cause a lot of haemorrhage so this will help stop bleeding