OBJECTIVE: To identify markers for late fetal death, a multicenter study was performed, based on routinely obtained data from maternal health care units. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospectively recorded data were obtained from maternal health care units belonging to five delivery units. In all, 233 consecutive cases of singleton pregnancy involving ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical course and perinatal outcomes of women with pneumonia complicating pregnancy. METHODS: Between 1989 and 1993, we admitted 71 pregnant women for treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. Exposure and outcome variables as well as characteristics of their clinical course were identified and analyzed. Two-sample Wilcoxon rank-sum and ...

A community-based survey on maternal mortality was carried out in the Ejisu health district of Ghana in January and February 1990 to identify all women who died in pregnancy, delivery or the puerperium from January 1985 to December 1989, determine their characteristics, the presumptive causes of death and related factors. ...

Thrombosis of the umbilical cord vessels is a rare but life-threatening event, usually leading to the death of the fetus. This report presents a case of an intra-partum fetal death due to thrombosis of the ductus venosus, hitherto not described in the literature. Labour was induced with intravenous oxytocin in ...

The present study reports for the first time on the presence of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) in a population of 259 women with a history of recurrent abortion, intrauterine death, and/or neonatal death associated with fetal growth restriction, preeclampsia and abruptio placentae. The overall incidence of aCL in this study group ...

To assess the impact of family planning status on maternal mortality, we analyzed data gathered in a community-based, maternal mortality surveillance study conducted by the Sichuan Health Department in the People's Republic of China during 1989-1991. The overall maternal mortality ratio, which included only deaths of pregnant women within family ...

Pathogenic animal trypanosomes are causative agents of the most common livestock diseases which have an important economic impact on many African countries. These diseases usually cause debilitating symptoms manifested by anemia and cachexia which may result in death. Recent studies show that they cause a wide range of reproductive disorders ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between fetal outcome and the steady state haematology of mothers with homozygous sickle cell disease. DESIGN: A retrospective observational study. The data were taken from dockets kept at the Sickle Cell Clinic and verified by interview with 45% of the patients. SETTING: The Sickle Cell ...

Coale and Banister argue that in China, elevated sex ratios in retrospective surveys are in part a function of collecting birth histories in a culture in which the definition of a birth may exclude mortality shortly after birth: an infant death in the West may be a stillbirth in east ...

In a 5-year period, the stillbirth rate in a teaching hospital in Hong Kong was 4.4 per 1,000 total births, which accounted for 61% of the perinatal deaths. The stillbirth rate was 5.8 times higher in twin pregnancies, and 17 times higher in triplet pregnancies. One quarter of the patients ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the outcome of pregnancies in high-risk patients whose last antepartum fetal assessment was a negative contraction stress test (CST) or a negative modified biophysical profile. METHODS: Twenty-nine hundred ninety-four women who received modified biophysical profiles were compared with 2450 who had CSTs during the preceding 3 years. ...

Pregnancy is related to an increased frequency of arrhythmias in asymptomatic patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which might lead to sudden death. A 40-year-old woman, with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome which was not diagnosed until pregnancy, presented in the 34th week with an atrial fibrillation, with high risk criteria for ventricular fibrillation. Intravenous ...

With more than 20,000 fetal deaths occurring annually in the United States, accurate epidemiological data concerning fetal death offer the potential to develop interventions aimed at saving a considerable number of fetuses. Currently, fetal death rates are determined by dividing the number of deaths by total births. These raw death ...

The intrauterine death of one fetus in the case of multiple pregnancies can have an impact on the development of the surviving twin. Based on a single-centre retrospective personal study of 248 multiple pregnancies, 10 of which presented a monofetal intrauterine death, the authors observed the type of placentation, the ...

A three-phase longitudinal design was used to study bereavement phenomena in a cohort (N = 78) of recently widowed elderly Australian men. One group of 57 widowers was compared with a second group of 21 widowers on a waiting list. A brief, interviewer-administered, structured questionnaire was used to rate the ...

Despite impressive gains in safety in recent decades, pregnancy remains risky business. From early in pregnancy until some weeks after its conclusion, pregnant women are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality compared with women who are not pregnant. This review summarizes recent national data from the U.S. Centers for ...

In a community-based prospective study, 6275 deliveries resulting in 6084 livebirths, 150 stillbirths (SB) and 167 neonatal deaths (NND) were monitored over a period of 3 years. The risk of an unfavourable outcome (SB or NND) in multiple pregnancies was more than ninefold that of singletons. Teenage mothers and those ...

Singleton survivors born to multigravidae in the whole island of Jamaica in 2 months (September-October 1986) were compared with singleton perinatal deaths occurring to multigravidae throughout the island in the 12-month period September 1986 to August 1987. Past obstetric history was obtained from the mothers using a structured questionnaire. Deaths ...

It has been suspected that influenza infection is associated with fetal or perinatal mortality, but little recent evidence supports this hypothesis. A small cluster of early and late fetal deaths in early 1986 prompted an epidemiological investigation. Women whose pregnancies were affected (cases) were compared with women whose pregnancies had ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, size, and outcome of spontaneous massive fetomaternal transplacental hemorrhage in Manitoba. METHODS: The Kleihauer maternal-fetal screening records at the Rh Laboratory were reviewed for the period October 1970 to December 1992. Rh Laboratory correspondence for the 7-year period ending December 31, 1992, was reviewed to ...

OBJECTIVES: Reduced options for fertility control over the past decade have increased the rates of unwanted pregnancy. We evaluated whether a woman's negative attitude toward her pregnancy increased the risk of perinatal mortality, in a large, prospective cohort study. METHODS: The association between attitude toward the pregnancy and perinatal mortality ...

In a group of 30 women who underwent induced delivery after they had been informed of a lethal fetal anomaly, 18 women reported that this was the outcome of a clear decision process and 12 reported that they had no choice. In contrast to findings in other research areas, the ...

In 1987, as part of the World Health Organization's Inter-Health Programme, we carried out a noncommunicable diseases survey in six rural villages in Tanzania. Each women completed a questionnaire, part of which was concerned with obstetric history, and underwent a physical examination. Our findings of unacceptably high perinatal mortality and ...

One hundred and forty-five cases of oligohydramnios in the second and third trimester were diagnosed by ultrasonography out of 25,000 obstetrics patients (0.58%). In this group, pregnancy complications included hypertension (22.1%) and bleeding in the second trimester (4.1%). We found a high incidence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid (29.1%), fetal distress ...

In a 4 year prospective community survey of 20,000 women randomly selected in North Arcot District of Tamil Nadu State in South India, the maternal mortality rates per 1,000 liveborn were estimated to be 17.4 and 16.6 for rural and semi-urban areas, respectively. The rates based only on direct causes ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the frequency and timing of fetal death and its association with maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) levels. METHODS: Pregnancy outcomes were evaluated in 6927 predominantly middle-class women (83% white, 17% black) who had second-trimester MSAFP determinations performed in our laboratory. All cases of multiple gestation, preexisting fetal death, ...

OBJECTIVE: To study the complications of percutaneous umbilical blood sampling (PUBS) conducted for purely diagnostic purposes, in a retrospective study of 341 personal cases and an analysis of 4922 cases from literature. SUBJECT: Analysis of the sampling procedure and complications seen in 341 punctures, including 12 failures. INTERVENTIONS: Freehand echo-guided ...

A package of mementos of a fetal or perinatal loss has been shown to help with the grieving process. The level of acceptance and the factors influencing acceptance of these mementos in a South Australian population was examined over a 27-month period. Data were available on 447 women and the ...

Motor vehicle accidents are the primary nonobstetric cause of maternal and subsequent fetal mortality. We present a case in which blunt abdominal trauma sustained by a pregnant woman in a motor vehicle accident caused extensive intrathoracic fetal injuries consisting of bilateral hemothorax, severe bilateral interstitial pulmonary hemorrhages, hemopericardium, and subepicardial ...

Idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis is uncommon in pregnancy. We have described the case of a pregnant patient with a benign retroperitoneal spindle cell tumor involving the distal duodenum, right ureter, and right iliac artery and vein. She was treated with a left ureteral stent and a right percutaneous nephrostomy. Ultimate cause ...

OBJECTIVE: To review the outcomes of pregnancies in women with cystic fibrosis (CF) and to address issues pertinent to the obstetric care of such women. DATA SOURCES: English-language case reports and case series published from 1960 to 1991 identified through a search of MEDLINE and Index Medicus. The terms of ...

Recently, plans to implement nationwide coding of underlying cause of fetal death have been promulgated. To examine the validity and potential utility of nationwide coding, this paper presents data from a five-state (Wisconsin, Arkansas, Maine, North Carolina, California) analysis of underlying causes of fetal death from vital records for 1985 ...

This study was conducted to evaluate the role of the Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI), used along with nonstress cardiotocography (NST) and fetal acoustic stimulation test (FAST), when required, in prediction of adverse pregnancy outcome. Over a 3-year period 565 pregnant women had antepartum fetal surveillance due to various high risk ...

The quinacrine method of non-surgical female sterilisation involves transcervical intrauterine insertion of 252 mg quinacrine as pellets during the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle; the drug causes inflammation and fibrosis of the proximal fallopian tube. We have carried out a field trial of 31,781 cases in twenty-four provinces of ...

This article traces the causes of high mortality rates among African gold miners in the former British colonial territories of the Gold Coast and Ashanti, 1900-1938. No previous studies exist for the early decades owing to the neglect by both mining companies and government officials to keep adequate statistics on ...

We present a case of sudden maternal death occurring during the ambulatory treatment of preterm labor in a twin pregnancy. The ultimate cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, the origin of which was probably multifactorial. The patient was being treated with the use of a subcutaneous terbutaline sulfate infusion pump.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the occurrence of hemostatic disturbances in patients with intrauterine fetal death (IFD). METHOD: The occurrence of abnormal results of hemostatic variables and of bleeding complications was noted from the medical records of 41 patients with IFD, 6 of whom had a multiple pregnancy. RESULT: Apart from the ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether continuous intrapartum electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (EFM) is associated with decreased perinatal mortality and morbidity compared with intermittent auscultation. METHODS: The study was conducted simultaneously at two university hospitals in Athens, Greece (Alexandra and Marika Iliadi Hospitals) from October 1, 1990 to June 30, 1991. ...

To examine the incidence and significance of complications related to percutaneous fetal blood sampling, we reviewed all the articles published in the English literature on this procedure. Risks of complications and adverse outcomes depend mainly on the gestational age at the time of the procedure, the operator's experience, and the ...

We have treated 25 pregnant patients with burns over a period of 6 years (1986-91). During this period total admissions to the burn unit were 1260. There were 187 women of child-bearing age, with burns ranging between 15 and 100 per cent TBSA. We would like to emphasize that, with ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate perinatal mortality rates as a method of auditing obstetric and neonatal care after account had been taken of transfer between hospitals during pregnancy and case mix. DESIGN: Case-control study of perinatal deaths. SETTING: Leicestershire health district. SUBJECTS: 1179 singleton perinatal deaths and their selected live born controls ...

Limited data are available on viral hepatitis (VH) complicating pregnancy from Sri Lanka. We retrospectively studied all pregnant and non-pregnant women of child bearing age, who were admitted with VH to the Teaching Hospital Peradeniya between January 1987 and December 1991. During this period, there were 187 cases of icteric ...

In a 10-year retrospective study of maternal deaths at RG Kar Medical College, Calcutta there were 651 maternal deaths with 410 in first 5-year period and 241 in second 5-year period. The leading causes of deaths were due to abortion, toxaemia, haemorrhage (antepartum and postpartum) and jaundice in pregnancy. Direct ...

A study of 30 women who had polyhydramnios in more than 1 pregnancy revealed that 8 of the 36 resultant pregnancies (22.2%) were associated with diabetes mellitus, 14 (37.8%) with fetal macrosomia, and the perinatal mortality was 16.2% (6 of 37). The incidence of major fetal malformations or abnormalities was ...

An analysis of pulmonary embolus mortality data was undertaken to investigate a putative change in maternal mortality due to pulmonary embolism in the antenatal period of pregnancy. A comparison was made of mortality due to pulmonary embolus for pregnant and non-pregnant women of reproductive age in England and Wales in ...

During a 1-year period, 662 pregnant women at 24-43 weeks' gestation were referred to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at the Queens University Belfast, for fetal assessment because they were clinically suspected to be at high risk of perinatal complications. The results of our investigations were made available to ...

Stillbirths, mummies, abortions, and early embryonic death have a substantial impact on the profitability of a farm in both endemic and epidemic conditions. Fetal death is highly dependent on stage of gestation. Implantation occurs around day 14 postmating in sows, and fetal death of an entire litter at this time ...

A case of possible delayed fetal death following electrical shock in the first trimester is reported. Evidence from the literature of delayed effects of electrical injury later in pregnancy is presented, suggesting that delayed as well as immediate detrimental effects in the first trimester should not be discounted. Perhaps the ...

Much has been learned about perinatal loss over the past 20 years through clinical investigations and quantitative research. However, a review of studies over the past decade reveals that perinatal loss is increasingly being seen in the same way as a death of any other member of the family, rather ...

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine the causes of adult respiratory distress syndrome in pregnancy, the treatment required, and maternal and perinatal outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: We examined a case series of 16 patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome initially treated in an obstetric intensive care unit. Criteria for the diagnosis ...