Thursday, April 13, 2017

Umbilical Cord Knots.

Hello everybody!

Recently during my Ob-Gyn internship while delivering the placenta, the Umbilical cord that I held, was very lumpy bumpy. Little knowing about the reason at that moment, I came home found out the reason.
Let's see how the Umbilical cord can get knotty sometimes.

So there are two types of knots seen in the cord.
1)True Umbilical Knots
2)False Umbilical Knots.

True Knots :
These are noted after delivery. 

The umbilical vessels, are protected by the thick myxomatous Wharton jelly, and can rarely be occluded completely. The jelly protects the vessels and the fetal blood supply, as there is only flattening or dissipation of Wharton jelly when a Knot is formed.
Due to the knot some amount of venous congestion distal to it and some  partially or completely occlusive vascular thrombi may also be observed.

A true knot is formed when a loop of cord slips over the infant’s head or shoulders during delivery.
If the knot is pulled tightly it can cause fetal demise due to restriction of the circulation in the cord. 

The True Knots can occur due to:
1)A long cord, 
2)Large amounts of amniotic fluid
3)A small infant,
4)An overactive fetus
5)As a result of external version. 

(All the above causes lead to increased fetal movements in utero)

However the fetal mortality rate associated with true knots is low.

False Knots:
In the cord the blood vessels are longer than the cord and are often folded on themselves producing nodulations on  the surface of the cord. These nodulations are lumps and bumps I saw!
These have been termed as false knots.

So guys the next time you see a lumpy bumpy cord, unlike me, you now know the reason.
That's​ all, on the Umbilical cord and it's knots.

Let's learn Together!
-Medha.

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