Placentae with mesenchymal dysplasia (PMD) are typically larger than average and show cystic areas on ultrasonography. Fetal outcomes are variable and are often associated with growth restriction. However, enigmatically, some associated fetuses show signs of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS). PMD has recently been shown to result from androgenetic (complete paternal uniparental disomy) chimerism in the placenta in pregnancies that were associated with some fetal growth restriction. Cases of PMD associated with overgrowth have not previously been investigated molecularly. We present a case of focal PMD associated with a male fetus showing overgrowth with an enlarged heart, marked fetal ascites and intrauterine fetal death at 34 weeks, but no other BWS manifestations. Mosaicism for an unbalanced translocation leading to deletion of the maternal copy of the BWS region on 11p15.5 and partial duplication of 17q was observed in placenta, but not fetal samples. While the placental findings of PMD can be caused by an unbalanced dosage of genes in 11p15.5 alone, fetal growth parameters appear to depend on the underlying mechanism and likely also the level and distribution of abnormal cells.
(c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.