Pre-eclampsia/toxemia (PET) is an idiopathic hypertensive disorder of pregnancy elicited in
susceptible mothers by exposure to placental trophoblast. Three facts regarding the
placenta in PET are known: an association with large placentas (excessive trophoblast), a
tendency for superficial implantation, and inappropriate trophoblastic immaturity, as
assessed by ultrastructural and biochemical criteria. A unitary hypothesis is that PET is
related to a maturation defect leading to excessive accumulation of inappropriately immature …