Investigating Human Placentation and Pregnancy Using First Trimester Chorionic Villi

Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) is routinely used for prenatal diagnosis of cytogenetic disorders, but also possesses great potential for studying placentation. To better understand villi biology, human placentation, and how these relate to pregnancy outcomes, we examined the morphology and transcriptomes of villi obtained via CVS from 10-14 weeks of pregnancy and correlated these with pregnancy attributes and clinical outcomes.