Materno fetal medicin

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Anencephaly is considered to be the most common type of neural tube defect. Our aim was to assess the clinical and gestational features of a cohort of fetuses with suspected anencephaly. DESIGN AND SETTING: Population-based retrospective cohort study in a referral hospital in southern Brazil. METHODS: The sample consisted of fetuses referred due to suspected anencephaly, to the Fetal Medicine Service of Hospital Materno Infantil Presidente Vargas, between January 2005 and September 2013...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Trisomy 18 (T18), or Edwards syndrome, is a chromosomal disease characterized by a broad clinical picture and a poor prognosis. Our aim was to describe clinical, radiological and survival data of a cohort of patients prenatally diagnosed with T18. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective single cohort in the Fetal Medicine Service of Hospital Materno Infantil Presidente Vargas (HMIPV). METHODS: All sequential patients with T18 registered at the Fetal Medicine Service of HMIPV between January 2005 and September 2013 were considered...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have recently become essential actors in various fields of physiology and medicine, especially as easily accessible circulating biomarkers, or as modulators of cell differentiation. To this respect, terminal differentiation of trophoblasts (the characteristic cells of the placenta in Therian mammals) into syncytiotrophoblast, villous trophoblast, or extravillous trophoblast constitutes a good example of such a choice, where miRNAs have recently been shown to play an important role. The aim of this review is to provide a snapshot of what is known today in placentation mechanisms that are mediated by miRNA, under the angles of materno-fetal immune dialog regulation, trophoblast differentiation, and angiogenesis at the materno-fetal interface...

After defining the term 'foreign embryonic isoantigens', the author describes the experimental sequence which has allowed this new fetoprotein class to be identified. Experiments have followed three different directions, namely (i) passive immunization, by which conceptus antibodies raised in another animal species are transferred to the female animal, the effects on the offspring becoming apparent after pregnancy; (ii) laboratory techniques, where the presence of conceptus antibodies in serum from aborting women has been demonstrated by use of analytical techniques or by testing the serum on cultured embryos; and (iii) active isoimmunization, by which the female animal is immunized against a conceptus extract from the same species, and the effects on the offspring are observed after pregnancy...

A significant obstetric complication facing contemporary materno-fetal medicine is preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes (preterm PROM), which occurs in 30% of all preterm births. The objective of this study was to identify differentially expressed proteins in the cervicovaginal fluid of asymptomatic women before the clinical manifestation of preterm PROM. The preterm PROM group comprised of women with samples collected 6-23 days before PROM, who subsequently delivered preterm (n=5). Women who spontaneously delivered at term served as gestation-matched controls (n=10)...

OBJECTIVES: Define methods of induction of labour for the population of pregnant women at the end of 41 SA and beyond, including membranes sweeping, mechanical and pharmacological procedures as oxytocin, prostaglandin E1 (misoprostol) and E2 (dinoprostone) and other methods as well for the scarred uterus. METHODS: Bibliographic research done by consulting databases PubMed, and Cochrane. RESULTS: Membrane sweeping reduces by 41% the need of induction of labour at 41 SA and 72% for postterm (42 SA)...

The exceptional progress in obstetrics, especially in the second half of the 20th century, creates a series of dilemmas, without having yet the answer to old, basic questions, such as premature delivery and prevention of preeclampsia. Sexual liberty and the delay of the first pregnancy are responsible for the drop in natality rate and the increasing demand for assisted reproductive technologies. Their success is marked, though, by a drastic increase in the multiple birth rate and its complications. The advancing maternal age brings along a number of cardiovascular pathologies that endanger not only the present pregnancy, but also the long distance health prognosis...

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus complicates 7% of all pregnancies. Recognizing and treating this entity result in a diminished number of materno-fetal complications; this study explores the family physician clinical aptitude to identify risk factors, to diagnose and treat gestational diabetes. OBJECTIVE: Identify clinical aptitude level of family physician to the treatment of diabetes gestational patients. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Transversal study to describe the level of clinical aptitude in 85 family physicians working in Guadalajara...

Immune regulation during pregnancy is complex, and thus an optimal therapy for pregnancy complications is always a big challenge to reproductive medicine. Cyclosporin A (CsA), a potent immunosuppressant, prevents rejection of allografts by hosts, but little is known about the modulating effect of CsA on the materno-fetal relationship. Here, pregnant CBA/J females mated with DBA/2 males as an abortion-prone model were administered with CsA on day 4.5 of gestation, and the pregnant CBA/J females mated with BALB/c males were established as successful pregnancy control...

A specialised clinic for the antenatal care of high-risk patients was established in Cork in January 2004. It is led by 2 specialists in materno-fetal medicine and provides care for patients from a large catchment area. Small clinic numbers, specialised midwives, ready access to medical experts and fetal assessment facilities, facilitate an efficient use of resources. We report on the experience and utcomes of this clinic after the first year in operation. A database was set up to store relevant information on patients who attended the clinic in 2004...

The HELLP syndrome is a variant of severe preeclampsia. Its leading symptoms are: hemolysis, increased liver enzymes and low platelet count. The treatment of the HELLP syndrome remains controversial as there are no standards of proven efficacy. The article presents a case of a 27- year-old patient, G1P0, 30 wk of gestation, reporting no fetus movements for several hours, who was admitted to The Materno-Fetal Medicine Department, Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital in Lódź, with symptoms of the onset of the HELLP syndrome...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

UNLABELLED: Systemic bacterial infections still remain one of the major causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Early detection of neonatal sepsis can be difficult, because the first signs of the disease may be unspecific and similar to symptoms of other non-infectious processes. Procalcitonin became a new, sensitive marker of bacterial infections in newborns. The aim of our study was to assess the value of PCT as a diagnostic and prognostic tool of neonatal maternofetal infections...

A great deal of new information has arisen in the past 2 years concerning the physiology of inhibins and their clinical relevance in reproductive medicine. It is now recognized that the two inhibin isoforms, inhibin A and inhibin B, are produced by the gonads in the course of gamete maturation and have different patterns of secretion during the menstrual cycle. Inhibins are also produced by the placenta and fetal membranes and may be involved in physiological adaptation of pregnancy. Clinically, inhibins may serve as sensitive tumor markers in postmenopausal women, or as useful tools for evaluating ovarian reserve in infertile women; they may also be used in the diagnosis of materno-fetal disorders...

The antiphospholipid syndrome, recently described, associates thromboembolism risks, fetal losses and thrombopenia. An obstetrical survey of this syndrome implies previous analyses of maternal and fetal risks and leads to treatment which may associate low doses of aspirin, heparin, corticoids. This complex syndrome offers the best example of materno-fetal medicine usefulness.

To discuss the problem of subspecialization in gynecology is very popular at present. Whether or not a complete separation into the three subdisciplines, (1) materno-fetal medicine--obstetrics, (2) surgical gynecology--gynecologic oncology, and (3) gynecologic endocrinology--reproductive medicine, is recommendable remains unclear. Some authors describe forms of supplementary postgraduate education only, a kind of prolongation of the basic gynecologic and obstetric training concentrating on one of the three main fields...

To discuss the problem of subspecialization in our discipline is presently very popular. Whether or not a complete separation into the three subdisciplines: (1) materno-fetal medicine - obstetrics (2) surgical gynecology - gynecologic oncology (3) gynecologic endocrinology - reproductive medicine is recommended remains unclear in most of the statements. Some describe forms of only a supplementary postgraduate education, a kind of prolongation of the basic gynecologic and obstetrical training concentrated on one of the three main fields...