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Abstract Preeclampsia is a common obstetric complication which causes both a maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Preeclampsia also increases the risk of developing long-term cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The exact etiology is still unknown but associated with a failure of the trophoblastic invasion of the spiral arteries, which may be associated with an increased vascular resistance of the uterine artery and a decreased perfusion of the placenta (1). The placenta is a key point of fetal development which transfers the oxygen and the nutrition to the fetus; therefore, an abnormal placentation in the first trimester of pregnancy may play a crucial role in determining the risk of subsequent late pregnancy complications. An impaired placentation leads to the development of preeclampsia. In addition, the placental size and shape at delivery are strongly correlated to the birth weight (2). The development of the 3D ultrasound improves the accuracy and provides reliable measurement of the placental volume in early pregnancy. Like uterine perfusion, placental volume may reflect trophoblast invasion, but much earlier, in the first trimester. In particular, the estimation of a smaller early placental volume (PV) has been shown to be significantly associated with preeclampsia. |