Cytology · MU Sofia

Slide 36. Umbilical cord - H&E

Explains how to recognise a section of umbilical cord stained with H&E, starting with the stain colours for jelly, vessel walls and nuclei. It then walks through the covering amniotic epithelium, the pale Wharton's jelly with its star-shaped fibroblasts, and the two thick-walled arteries against the single thinner-walled vein, noting the direction of blood flow in each. It closes by pointing back to the related theory topics on embryonic connective tissue and the umbilical cord.

Inside: 1 section · 1 min

Topic 125 of 127 in the MU Sofia syllabus for Cytology (Dental Medicine, Year 1). The free AceMed note covers it in 1 section, about 93 words (1 min of reading).

In this note

  1. Introduction

Introduction

The umbilical cord joins the fetus to the placenta.

Stain

H&E: jelly pale, vessel walls pink, nuclei blue-purple.

How to recognise it

  • A covering of amniotic epithelium, a single layer of flat to cuboidal cells.
  • Abundant pale Wharton's jelly, a mucous connective tissue with star-shaped fibroblasts in watery ground substance and few fibres.
  • Two umbilical arteries: thick muscular walls and narrow lumens. They carry deoxygenated blood from the fetus.
  • One umbilical vein: wider lumen, thinner wall. It carries oxygenated blood to the fetus.

Theory: topics 45 (embryonic connective tissue) and 81 (umbilical cord).

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