Allantoid Stalk

The allantoid stalk or caulis (lat. caulis allantoicum) is a thin smooth muscle tube that connects the human placenta (mainly in children) to the fetal body.

Allantoid was first described by Mackenzie Gregg in 1954 while examining a fatal case of fetal septicemia. To this day, some experts adhere to Gregg's point of view, considering it "a single extravasation of chorionic tissue from the uterus." An alternative point of view of E. F. Dauschel and D. Hughes considers the disease as a physiological phenomenon of intrauterine closure of the foramen ovale. Research by Kurt Bossard, conducted in the early 80s, established that the defect at the level of the allantoid confluence develops against the background of general primary hypoplasia of the oval window. Two types of allantoid anomalies have been described: with significant expansion and narrowing. Clinically, the first type is represented by Odums-Blodgett disease (acute fetal hypoxia), the second type manifests itself several months after the onset of intrauterine infection (late forms of Odums disease), however, a commonality of symptoms is expressed, beginning with fetal growth retardation and leading to premature birth.