[Stillbirth and tight umbilical cord knot: obviously guilty?]

Abstract

A healthy woman, gravida 1, para 1, spontaneously delivered a stillborn at 40 weeks of gestation, presenting with a tight umbilical cord knot. Fetopathological examination confirmed the main but not exclusive role of the knot in this intra-uterine fetal death (IUFD). Knot of the umbilical cord is a rare occurrence, which is usually an incidental finding at delivery. However, it is associated with an increase in perinatal mortality. Only a complete fetopathological examination can state causality between knot and IUFD, exclude another fetal or placental cause of death and consequently reassure the parents for the prognosis of another pregnancy.