Gross and Histomorphologic Study of the Umbilical Cord in Pre-gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: The umbilical cord is fetal organ and contains two arteries and one vein covered by connective tissue called Wharton’s jelly. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common metabolic disorder, the importance of which includes possible fetal and maternal complications. As the umbilical cord is the communicating channel between the fetus and the placenta, any pathological change in the umbilical cord may cause harm to the fetus. For this reason, some gross morphological and microscopic features of umbilical cord were analyzed in case of pre-gestational and gestational diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, analytical and observational type of study was carried out in the Department of Anatomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka between July 2004 and December…