A case of recurrent familial male miscarriages with hypercoiled umbilical cord: A possible X-linked association?

摘要

The umbilical cord represents the vascular connection between the developing foetus and the maternal placenta. By way of its anatomy it is at risk for traction, kinking and compression. The normal umbilical cord is spiralled along its length, thus providing resistance to compression and aiding venous return to the foetus. A coil is defined as a complete spiral of 360° of the umbilical vessels around each other (De Laat et al, 2005). The degree of cord coiling is quantified by the umbilical cord index (UCI), which is calculated by dividing the number of complete coils present in the cord by the total length of the cord in centimetres (Strong et al., 1994a), with a mean value of 0.20 from various studies (Khong, 2010). A hypercoiled cord is one in which the UGI is greater than the 90th centile (De Laat et al, 2007).