Applications for Use of Chronically Instrumented Bovine Fetuses in Abortion Pathogenesis Studies

Abstract

Our understanding of events leading to abortion in domestic animals is based on information from field cases or from experimental pathogenesis studies in which fetuses are collected by cesarean section or after euthanasia of dams. Because the fetus and placenta are relatively inaccessible, direct perturbation and/ or sequential evaluation of the course of in utero events are difficult and have not been extensively utilized. The purpose of this communication is to transmit our initial experience with chronically catheterized bovine fetuses in abortion pathophysiology studies.