Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (ALHE) is a rare benign vascular proliferation that clinically manifests as nodules and papules of the head and neck region. We report a profound, rapidly proliferating case of ALHE in a 3-week postpartum woman that clinically mimicked angiosarcoma. The clinical and histologic features of ALHE, Kitamura ...

This study investigates whether mother's exposure to the artificial sweetener acesulfame-K (AK) during pregnancy or lactation affected her adult offspring's sweet preference. It was found that mother's dietary exposure to AK in pregnancy or lactation decreased the preference thresholds for AK and sucrose solutions in the adult offspring, whereas the ...

Toll-like receptors (TLR) are an important part of the innate immune system and are present in a variety of human tissues. Work investigating the role of the TLR in pregnancy has thus far focused on placental tissue; however, minimal data is currently available concerning TLR expression in other tissues. Unlike ...

To investigate the role of oxidative stress and antioxidant status in preterm labor. Twenty-five cases diagnosed with preterm labor were included in the study group, whereas 25 women with uncomplicated pregnancies at similar stages of pregnancy were included in the control group. Total antioxidant status was measured in maternal plasma ...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the clinical, sonographic, and hormonal variables that influence the success of labor induction in nulliparous postterm pregnancies. Fifty nulliparous women with a single postterm pregnancy receiving a slow-release prostaglandin estradiol pessary were prospectively enrolled, and clinical characteristics were analyzed in relation to ...

Proteomic analysis of human cervicovaginal fluid (CVF) by 2D electrophoresis revealed significant differential expression of several major antioxidant enzymes during late pregnancy and term labor. Temporal quantitative changes of total antioxidant capacity (TAC), Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn SOD) and thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) with impending term labor were investigated, and the potential ...

To compare the effectiveness and safety of using the combination of dinoprostone suppository and ethacridine and ethacridine alone for the induction of mid-term pregnancy. The clinical data of 96 patients at 16-27+6 gestational weeks in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from March 2008 to December 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients ...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is recommended by the American Psychiatric Association Task Force on ECT as a safe and effective treatment of depression throughout pregnancy. We report here administration of ECT in the third trimester of pregnancy in a 33-year-old patient with severe bipolar depression. The patient had a good antidepressant ...

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a relatively common complex congenital heart defect. Prior to development of staged reconstruction (i.e., Norwood procedure), HLHS was almost universally fatal within months of birth. Early survivors of the Norwood procedure are now reaching reproductive age. We report successful pregnancies in two such women. ...

to assess the relationship between maternal and umbilical serum concentrations of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2,8,9, the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) and IL-10 and premature delivery and fetal inflammation. maternal serum levels of MMPs, sRAGE, IL-10 and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined in 67 women with preterm labor ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate risk factors associated with postterm pregnancy and cesarean delivery following labor induction. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. SETTING: Sweden. POPULATION: From the Swedish Medical Birth Register, a total of 1,176,131 singletons births from gestational week 37 and onwards, between 1992 and 2006. METHODS: Unconditional logistic regression analysis. MAIN ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether intrapartum epidural analgesics (bupivacaine or ropivacaine) have an influence (safety and efficacy) on mothers, fetuses, or newborns at high altitudes (2,200 m above the sea level). DESIGN: Prospective randomized trial. SETTING: A tertiary referral hospital in Aseer region, Saudi Arabia. POPULATION: Eighty parturient women with normal ...

The objective was to identify histologic chorioamnionitis ("amnionitis") in the placental disc at term and to investigate associations with demographic, lifestyle, and pregnancy factors and with allergic diseases, atopy, and intelligence quotients in childhood. The setting was a population-based case control study of small-for-gestational age infants at term. One thousand ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of membrane sweeping at initiation of labor induction in low-risk patients at term pregnancy (38-40 gestational weeks). METHODS: This prospective study included 351 antenatal women who were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a sweeping of the membranes group (n = 181) and a ...

Significant fetal bradycardia occurred when a parturient receiving labor epidural analgesia experienced generalized numbness and tingling, a metallic taste and hot flushes. An emergent cesarean delivery under general anesthesia was performed with favorable outcomes for the mother and baby. The most likely source of the maternal symptoms was spiramycin, which ...

Ultrasound machines are nowadays part of the armamentarium of all modern Labor and Delivery Suites. Due to their portability, these machines are ideal for use in emergencies which can occur at any of the labor and delivery rooms. Many of the emergencies in Labor and Delivery can be life threatening; ...

Takayasu aortoarteritis in a pregnant patient is often associated with severe life-threatening complications. The coexistence of associated dilated cardiomyopathy can further complicate the pregnancy, particularly during parturition and at the time of delivery. We describe the management of labor analgesia in a symptomatic parturient suffering from advanced Takayasu aortoarteritis with ...

Mastocytosis is a rare disorder characterized by abnormal accumulation of mast cells in various organs. Clinical complaints include pruritus, cutaneous flushing, dyspepsia, and episodes of anaphylaxis, and are usually the result of local and systemic mast cell mediator release. The triggers include a variety of factors including drugs, exercise, stress, ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare 30-mL and 60-mL Foley balloon inflation for labor induction and the effect on length of labor and mode of delivery. METHODS: Women with term, vertex, singleton pregnancies (n=192) and a Bishop score less than 5 were assigned randomly to receive a transcervical Foley balloon inflated to either ...

Dystocia, or abnormally slow progress in labor, can result from cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD), malposition of the fetal head as it enters the birth canal, or ineffective uterine propulsive forces. Cephalopelvic disproportion occurs when there is mismatch between the size of the fetal head and size of the maternal pelvis, resulting ...

We describe obstetric outcomes in a group of patients with prior cesarean delivery (CD) presenting with an intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD). A secondary analysis of an observational study of women with prior CD was performed. All antepartum singleton pregnancies with a prior CD and IUFD ≥20 weeks' gestation or 500 ...

The mechanism of mouse parturition is thought to involve myometrial infiltration by amniotic fluid (AF) macrophages, activated by surfactant protein-A (SP-A). In humans, the concentration of AF SP-A decreases during labor, and no fetal macrophages are found in the myometrium after labor. Therefore, it appears that the mechanisms of labor ...

OBJECTIVE: Visfatin, a novel adipokine with metabolic and immunoregulatory properties, has been implicated in the regulation of fetal growth, as well as in preterm labor. A gap in knowledge is whether spontaneous labor at term is associated with changes in the maternal and fetal concentrations of visfatin. The aim of ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of an oxytocin infusion alone or preceded by an intravaginal application of misoprostol for labor induction in women with term pregnancies and a low Bishop score. METHODS: This study randomized 100 multiparous women with singleton pregnancies over 38 weeks and a Bishop score less than ...

Prevention of preterm labor or arrest of ongoing premature labor in a twin gestation is more difficult to achieve than in singleton pregnancies. This clinical perspective is intended to review currently applied methods and to propose a more effective means to resolve this problem. A number of tocolytic methods have ...

The benefits of maternal movement and position changes to facilitate labor progress have been discussed in the literature for decades. Recent routine interventions such as amniotomy, induction, fetal monitoring, and epidural anesthesia, as well as an increase in maternal obesity, have made position changes during labor challenging. The lack of ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of a prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) vaginal insert with those of oxytocin for labor induction. The present study also examined whether its use reduces the rate of cesarean delivery in term pregnancies with premature rupture of membranes (PROM) ...

BACKGROUND: The fetal occiput posterior position poses challenges in every aspect of intrapartum care-prevention, diagnosis, correction, supportive care, labor management, and delivery. Maternal and newborn outcomes are often worse and both physical and psychological traumas are more common than with fetal occiput anterior positions. The purpose of this paper is ...

Rudimentary-horn pregnancy (RHP) is a rare condition which is usually presented as a rupture of the pregnant horn during the second or third trimester, resulting in life-threatening bleeding. The authors report two cases of RHP which were diagnosed at the time of labor induction following fetal death diagnosis. Although the ...

BACKGROUND: Women with genital anomalies are at increased risk of labor dysfunction. Rupture of the posterior cul-de-sac causing an intraabdominal delivery is a rare complication of labor that may be related to a congenitally atretic vagina. CASE: A nulliparous woman at 28 weeks of gestation with a known short vagina ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this pilot study was to perform a preliminary investigation into the predictive values of the position of the fetal spine and of the occiput measured during the first and second stages of labor by intrapartum ultrasound for persistent occiput posterior (OP) position. METHODS: This was a ...

To examine changes in the levels of 13, 14-dihydro-15-keto-prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGFM) in saliva during pregnancy, labor and the postpartum period, and to evaluate the relationship between cervical dilatation or contraction interval and salivary PGFM levels during labor. This longitudinal study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics in a hospital ...

We compared outcomes for neonates with forceps-assisted, vacuum-assisted, or cesarean delivery in the second stage of labor. This is a secondary analysis of a randomized trial in laboring, low-risk, nulliparous women at >or=36 weeks' gestation. Neonatal outcomes after use of forceps, vacuum, and cesarean were compared among women in the ...

Uterine fibroids are a very common finding in women of reproductive age. The majority of fibroids do not change their size during pregnancy, but one-third may grow in the first trimester. Although the data are conflicting and most women with fibroids have uneventful pregnancies, the weight of evidence in the ...

Hydatid cystic disease is a parasitic disease primarily infesting the sheep and cattle. It is a rare condition in pregnancy with an incidence of 1/20000 pregnancies. An eighteen-year-old primigravida was evaluated due to obstructed labor. Multiple abdominal and pelvic hydatid cysts were diagnosed by ultasonography and a healthy infant with ...

Most of the studies on the synchronization between EHG signals, recorded during the same contractions at different locations, are limited to the use of only two channels. Multichannel techniques have however been widely applied to EEG signals but rarely to EHG. In this paper, we investigate the use of multichannel ...

BACKGROUND: We tested the hypothesis that the stretch-activated, four-transmembrane domain, two pore potassium channels (K2P), TREK-1 and TRAAK are gestationally-regulated in human myometrium and contribute to uterine relaxation during pregnancy until labor. METHODOLOGY: We determined the gene and protein expression of K2P channels in non-pregnant, pregnant term and preterm laboring ...

In respect to the main goal of our ongoing work for predicting preterm birth, we analyze in this paper the complexity of the uterine electromyography (EMG) by using the sample entropy (SampEn) algorithm. By considering recent methodological developments, we measure the SampEn over multiple scales using the wavelet packet decomposition ...

Labor prediction using the electrohysterogram has immediate clinical applications and has been the aim of several studies in recent years. Studies using various linear methods such as classic spectral analysis do not give clinically useful results. In this paper we present the use of two methods that investigate nonlinearity to ...

Ultrasound may play an important role in the management of labor and delivery. Induction of labor is a common obstetric intervention, performed in about 20% of pregnancies. Pre-induction cervical length, measured by transvaginal sonography, has been shown to have a significant association with the induction-to-delivery interval and the risk for ...

Keeping upright during labor may shorten childbirth.

To assess the effectiveness and safety of sublingual misoprostol (50 microg), compared with the same dose administered vaginally every 6 h for cervical ripening and labor induction in women with a viable fetus in the third trimester of pregnancy. This double-blind randomized prospective placebo-controlled trial included 480 women with medical ...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare fetal oxygen saturation by fetal pulse oximetry in parturients with and without epidural labor analgesia in a prospective case control study. METHODS: Fetal oxygen saturation values were compared in term pregnant women who received epidural analgesia (epidural group) with those in ...

Maternal obesity is associated with increased rates of labor induction, dysfunctional labor requiring intrapartum cesarean delivery, and postpartum hemorrhage, implying that maternal obesity has an inhibitory effect on myometrial function and its ability to respond to oxytocin. This study aimed to use an in vitro model to investigate the relationship ...

BACKGROUND: The rates of induction of labor and elective induction of labor are increasing. Whether elective induction of labor improves outcomes or simply leads to greater complications and health care costs is commonly debated in the literature. PURPOSE: To compare the benefits and harms of elective induction of labor and ...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression and function of catechol-O-methyltransferase in human fetal membranes at term. Fetal membranes obtained from women between 38-42 weeks of gestation, after (1) vaginal delivery with spontaneous labor and (2) prelabor elective cesarean section (no labor), were assayed for catechol-O-methyltransferase expression ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of meperidine hydrochloride and valethamate bromide against placebo in shortening the duration of active labor. METHOD: We randomly assigned 160 nulliparous women with a singleton pregnancy at term who needed induction of labor to one of 3 treatments: 50 mg of meperidine (n=53), ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the pattern of cervical dilatation in live singleton pregnancies with spontaneous onset of labor and to compare any differences among nulliparas (P ara 0) and multiparas (Para >or=1). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Descriptive statistics are presented for 238 consecutive labor patients with spontaneous onset, >or=37 weeks gestation, live ...

OBJECTIVE: To study a possible association between physical activity and the duration of second stage of labor among Hispanic women. STUDY DESIGN: We evaluated this relationship in the Latina Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Study, a prospective cohort of Hispanic obstetric patients. The Kaiser Physical Activity Survey was used to collect information ...

Cytochrome P-450 (CYP450) enzymes of the CYP2 and -4 family in humans metabolize arachidonic acid to generate bioactive epoxyeicosatrienenoic acids (EETs) and hydroxyeicosatetrenoic acids (HETEs). We report significantly higher levels of CYP 2J2 protein expression following the onset of labor (n = 6, P < 0.05), implying increased EET-generating capacity ...