Pathologists are being asked to evaluate fetal and neonatal losses more and more frequently. An accurate and detailed neuropathologic examination is essential to parents and clinicians in the planning and management of subsequent pregnancies, and may be important in the event of litigation. This course is intended for all pathologists and pathologists in training who find themselves faced with examining perinatal nervous system tissues, a subject in which prior specific training may have been limited. The course objectives are 1) to review the normal timing and development of the human nervous system (including neural tube closure, patterning, and segmentation; development of the cerebral cortex and cerebellum and myelination); 2) to discuss the developmental timing and pathogenesis of major CNS malformations (such as neural tube defects, holoprosencephaly, lissencephaly, Dandy-Walker malformations), with cytogenetic correlations; 3) to review the mechanisms of disruptions of development (including hydraencephaly, porencephaly, and localized ischemic gray and white matter lesions); and 4) to provide an approach to the prosection of immature brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve, and muscle, and to the creation of a clinically useful and medicolegally sound neuropathology report. These objectives will be achieved through the presentation of a series of cases, each designed to convey 1 or 2 specific points.

Case histories and a limited number of loan sets of microscopic slides will be available for mailing prior to the meeting. A syllabus with references will be distributed at the time of the course. All registrants will be mailed a set of transparencies after the meeting. (Last Scheduled Presentation)