Question:easy
Hydrops fetalis is due to?
Hydrops fetalis is due to?
Show Hint
Think of the immune (haemolytic) cause from blood-group incompatibility.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Rh mismatch
- Hyperproteinemia
- Placental hypoplasia
- All of the above
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Hydrops fetalis describes excess fluid pooling in at least two fetal spaces, for example the abdomen, the chest, the pericardium, or the subcutaneous tissue, and it is grouped into immune and non-immune types.
Step 2: The textbook immune trigger is Rhesus blood-group incompatibility. A sensitised Rh-negative mother makes anti-D antibodies that pass to an Rh-positive fetus and haemolyse its red cells; the ensuing profound anaemia drives heart failure and widespread fluid leakage, the hallmark of immune hydrops.
Step 3: The other listed items do not fit. High plasma protein (hyperproteinemia) is not a recognised cause; it is the opposite, a low oncotic pressure, that promotes oedema. Placental hypoplasia is not a standard cause of hydrops either. Since two options are invalid, choosing all of the above is wrong.
Step 4: The only correct causative option here is Rh mismatch.
\[\boxed{\text{Rh mismatch}}\]
Step 2: The textbook immune trigger is Rhesus blood-group incompatibility. A sensitised Rh-negative mother makes anti-D antibodies that pass to an Rh-positive fetus and haemolyse its red cells; the ensuing profound anaemia drives heart failure and widespread fluid leakage, the hallmark of immune hydrops.
Step 3: The other listed items do not fit. High plasma protein (hyperproteinemia) is not a recognised cause; it is the opposite, a low oncotic pressure, that promotes oedema. Placental hypoplasia is not a standard cause of hydrops either. Since two options are invalid, choosing all of the above is wrong.
Step 4: The only correct causative option here is Rh mismatch.
\[\boxed{\text{Rh mismatch}}\]
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