i was looking at my birth records and i saw the doctor put on it thet
my umbilical cord was necrotized, i was born healthy, how could this
be? i thought the baby gets all its air from the cord if the cord is
dead and rotting how could the baby survive healthy and the mother not
get an infection from the dead cord?

Hello,

While you are correct that the fetus is supplied with nutrients via
the umbilical cord and that a completely "dead" or "rotting" cord
would be incompatibile with fetal life, the umbilical cord is made of
many layers, some of which can be necrotic without compromising the
function of the entire cord.  The general description of this
condition is "funisitis" - an inflammation of the umbilical cord -
this inflammation can be graded according to the degree of
inflammation, with stage 3/3 funisitis being manifest by necrotic
tissue (http://www.medal.org/docs_ch23/doc_ch23.56.html).  Funisitis
is the result of long-standing inflammation of the umbilical cord
which can result in calcification and necrosis of tissues of the cord
(http://www.earlypath.com/lectures/placenta4.html).  Despite this
affliction of the umbilical cord, newborns and mothers can be healthy
(although infection is the most common cause of the necrotic cord).

While mvguy-ga is correct that a necrotized cord can be associated
with maternal syphillis infection
(http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:YF3iao6_IvEC:www.medscape.com/viewarticle/414767_3+necrotic+umbilical&hl=en&ie=UTF-8),
other causes exist.  Other infections, such as Actinomyces meyeri, a
dental infection associated organism
(http://www.lib.umich.edu/dentlib/nihcdc/searches/tanzer/tanzerActino2bEM.txt),
candida (yeast), herpes simplex
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8026831&dopt=Abstract),
and others not identified
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1427754&dopt=Abstract)
can also produce funisitis.

Additionally, premature rupture of membranes , PROM (amniotic sac
breakage before labor), and preterm-PROM (as above, occuring before
the fetus is at term) are also associated with funisitis.  These
conditions can result in healthy children/mothers.

Several brief descriptions of umbilical cord disorders, including
funisitis:
http://www.thedoctorsdoctor.com/bodysites/placenta.htm

While not necessarily causally related, necrotizing funisitis can also
be associated with congenital lung malformations and congenital
pneumonia:
http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic2765.htm

Please let me know if you have further questions.

synarchy

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Clarification of Answer by synarchy-ga on 06 May 2003 17:53 PDT

search terms:
Google: "necrotizing funisitis"
PubMed: necrotizing funisitis

I don't have enough medical background to give a good answer for the
time I would like to spend, but apparently it is indeed possible. A
necrotized umbilical cord is associated with infections in the mother,
often syphillis.

Testing Umbilical Cords for Funistitis
http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:YF3iao6_IvEC:www.medscape.com/viewarticle/414767_3+%22umbilical+cord%22+necrosis&hl=es&ie=UTF-8