Objectives- To report normative data for the fetal nasal bone length (NBL), frontonasal fold (FNF) thickness, and the FNF/NBL ratio and to study their performance in the sonographic screening of trisomy 21 in a normal, unselected Latin American population. Methods- Women undergoing a routine sonographic examination between 16 and 32 ...

Evaluation of: Grindlay K, Grossman D. Unintended pregnancy among active-duty women in the United States military, 2008. Obstetr. Gynecol. 121(2), 241-246 (2013). This is a study comparing the unintended pregnancy rates of active-duty women in 2008 with those rates in 2005 and the general US population. The data were obtained ...

Results of previous population-based studies examining associations between smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are contradictory. Furthermore, there is a lack of population-based studies examining the relationship between smoking during pregnancy and the main diagnostic subtypes of ASD. We conducted a population-based nested case-control study based on the ...

Abstract Objective: In 1989 the St. Vincent's declaration set a five-year target for approximating outcomes of pregnancies in women with diabetes to those of the background population. We investigated and quantified the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) to evaluate if the goals ...

BACKGROUND:Inuit and First Nations populations have higher rates of stillbirth than non-Aboriginal populations in Canada do, but little is known about the timing and cause of stillbirth in Aboriginal populations. We compared gestational age- and cause-specific stillbirth rates in Inuit and First Nations populations with the rates in the non-Aboriginal ...

OBJECTIVES: To examine alcohol-use disorders in pregnant women and the extent of under-reporting. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. SETTING: Western Australia. POPULATION: Women with a birth recorded on the Western Australian Midwives Notification System (1985-2006). METHODS: Mothers with an International Classification of Diseases 9/10 alcohol-related diagnosis, indicating heavy alcohol consumption, recorded ...

OBJECTIVE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last estimated a national ectopic pregnancy rate in 1992, when it was 1.97 percent of all reported pregnancies. Since then rates have been reported among privately insured women and regional healthcare provider populations, ranging from 1.6 to 2.45 percent. This study assessed ...

Objective To compare the ability of customized versus normalized population fetal growth norms in identifying neonates at risk for adverse perinatal outcomes (APOs) associated with fetal overgrowth and gestational diabetes (GDM).Study Design Secondary analysis of a multicenter treatment trial of mild GDM. The primary outcome was a composite of neonatal outcomes associated ...

Objective: To determine the association between gestation weight gain (GWG) and adverse pregnancy outcome in a Pakistani population. Study Design: Analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: The Aga Khan University, Karachi, from February 2003 to 2007. Methodology: This study used secondary data of 4,735 women from a large cohort ...

In the present study, an attempt is made to understand the role of genetic thrombophilias i.e. MTHFR C677T and FVL in the causation of various pregnancy complications like pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), recurrent abortions, intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR) and intra-uterine death on the whole and also individually along with the ...

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a multifactorial condition. The effect of antithrombin ( SERPINC1 ), protein C ( PROC ), thrombomodulin ( THBD ) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor ( TFPI ) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the risk of RPL is thus far unknown. Our objective was to determine ...

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: The mechanism underlying the spontaneous improvement of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during pregnancy and the subsequent postpartum flare is incompletely understood and disease course varies widely between pregnant RA patients. In pregnancy, total and free levels of cortisol increase gradually, followed by a decrease to pre-pregnancy values postpartum. The ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether maternal plasma levels of 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) are decreased early in pregnancies that subsequently develop pre-eclampsia (PE) and whether this difference could be attributed to the presence of Val158Met catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphism in the placenta. METHODS: Clinical characteristics and plasma samples were collected at 11 to 14 weeks ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to analyze polymorphisms of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) gene, and glyoxalase I gene and soluble RAGE, sRAGE, in physiological and pathological pregnancy. DESIGN AND METHODS: Polymorphisms of RAGE gene (-429T/C, -374T/A, 557G/A, 2184 A/G) and glyoxalase I gene (A419C) and ...

Abstract Gestational enterovirus (EV) infections have been associated with an increased risk for type 1 diabetes in the offspring. We therefore analyzed non-diabetic mothers for EV exposure in early pregnancy in relation to type 1 diabetes HLA-DQ risk genotypes and seroconversion to islet autoantibodies during pregnancy. Non-diabetic mothers who had ...

Fetal echocardiography is a well established sensitive tool to diagnose congenital heart disease (CHD) in utero. One of the determinants of effective utilization of fetal echocardiography is its awareness in the general population. The present hospital based study was undertaken to assess the awareness of the need for fetal echocardiography ...

PURPOSE: Fetal folate deficiency may increase the risk of subsequent childhood acute leukemia (AL), since folates are required for DNA methylation, synthesis, and repair, but the literature remains scarce. This study tested the hypothesis that maternal folic acid supplementation before or during pregnancy reduces AL risk, accounting for the SNPs ...

Please cite this paper as: Bustamante M, Danileviciute A, Espinosa A, Gonzalez JR, Subirana I, Cordier S, Chevrier C, Chatzi L, Grazuleviciene R, Sunyer J, Ibarluzea J, Ballester F, Villanueva CM, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Estivill X, Kogevinas M. Influence of fetal glutathione S-transferase copy number variants on adverse reproductive outcomes. BJOG ...

Imbalanced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression, including MMP-2, has been demonstrated in pre-eclampsia. However, little is known about the effect of polymorphisms in MMP-2 gene on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. We examined whether two functional MMP-2 polymorphisms (g.-1306C>T and g.-735C>T) are associated with pre-eclampsia and/or gestational hypertension, and whether these polymorphisms ...

We performed a matched case-control study to analyze the placental angioarchitecture, in particular the diameter of arterio-arterial (AA) anastomoses in monochorionic placentas from pregnancies with twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) compared to a control group of uncomplicated monochorionic placentas. Placental angioarchitecture was analyzed using colored dye injection. AA anastomoses were detected ...

HLA-G is a nonclassical, class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene that exhibits immunomodulatory properties and likely plays a role in the maintenance of successful pregnancy. In this study, we investigated the role of HLA-G polymorphisms on risk for recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and on circulating levels of soluble (s)HLA-G ...

Folate, a key periconceptional nutrient, is ultraviolet light (UV-R) sensitive. We therefore hypothesise that a relationship exists between sunspot activity, a proxy for total solar irradiance (particularly UV-R) reaching Earth, and the occurrence of folate-sensitive, epigenomic-related neonatal genotypes during the first trimester of pregnancy. Limited data is provided to support ...

Aim:  Genetic thrombophilias are known to contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Studies in Western populations show that 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T and Factor V (F5) 1691G>A (Leiden) polymorphisms are commonly associated with pre-eclampsia and recurrent spontaneous pregnancy loss. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of ...

Venous thrombosis (VT) is one of the leading causes of maternal death in the western world, but the genetic causes of pregnancy-related VT are insufficiently understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between common genetic variations in candidate genes and pregnancy-related VT. We undertook a hospital ...

OBJECTIVES: The methyltransferase genotype and pregnancy both influence the arsenic metabolism phenotype, but it is unknown whether these factors interact, explaining the drastic changes in the efficiency of arsenic metabolism observed among pregnant women. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative contribution of the methyltransferase genotype and ...

Background:  Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous behavioral disorder, complex both in etiology and clinical expression. Both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated, and it has been suggested that gene-environment interactions may play a pivotal role in the disorder. Recently, a significant association was reported between ADHD and LPHN3 ...

BACKGROUND:Cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) constitutes approximately 10% of the cell-free DNA in maternal plasma and is a suitable source of fetal genetic material for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD). The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of using digital PCR for NIPD in pregnancies at risk of sickle ...

Background: Plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) is an important regulator of fibrinolysis. A common deletion polymorphism which results in a sequence of 4G instead of 5G in the promoter region of the gene is associated with a small increase in the risk of venous thromboembolism. Its potential association with ...

  A sexual assault case resulted in a pregnancy, which was subsequently aborted. The alleged father of the fetus was unknown. Maternal and fetal types were obtained using the 11-locus AmpFℓSTR(®) SGM Plus(®) kit. The national DNA database was searched for the paternal obligatory alleles and detected two suspects who ...

To determine the frequency of patients with dermatoses in the third trimester of pregnancy and to identify various clinical types of dermatoses in the third trimester. The study was carried out at the Department of Dermatology and the Department of Gynaecology & Obstetrics, PNS Shifa Hospital, Karachi, from January 2 ...

Gestational choriocarcinoma is usually a rapidly spreading fatal disease, but it is curable if diagnosed early and treated. It is a unique malignancy that is a partial or complete allograft with a genotype that is not the same as the host genotype. It is most often preceded by an abnormal ...

MTHFD1 encodes C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase, which is a folate-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the formation and interconversion of folate-activated one-carbon groups for nucleotide biosynthesis and cellular methylation. A polymorphism in MTHFD1 (1958G→A) impairs enzymatic activity and is associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, but the mechanisms are unknown. The objective ...

Apoptosis during the early stages of pregnancy enables the remodeling of the uterus for proper placentation. Apoptosis in the maternal activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes allows maternal immune tolerance to pregnancy and in glandular and stromal cells it helps with trophoblastic endometrial invasion. FAS gene is expressed at the maternal-fetal interface ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of polymerase chain reaction analysis (PCR) of fetal cells/DNA in the maternal plasma of pregnant cows to determine the sex of the fetus. Plasma was harvested from 35 cows of mixed genotype at different stages of pregnancy ranging from 5 ...

Background and objectives  The Colton blood group antigens are carried by the AQP1 water channel. AQP1(-/-) individuals, also known as Colton-null since they express no Colton antigens, do not suffer any apparent clinical consequence but may develop a clinically significant alloantibody (anti-CO3) induced by transfusion or pregnancy. Identification and transfusion ...

OBJECTIVE: Slight perturbations in maternal sex steroid production and metabolism may interfere with normal fetal neurodevelopment. The balance of maternal estrogens and androgens may have direct fetal effects, may influence the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, or may alter local hormonal activity within the fetal brain. We investigated maternal functional polymorphisms of ...

Background: C677T polymorphism of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) has been associated with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). However, results were conflicting. The aim of this study was to quantitatively summarize the evidence for MTHFR C677T polymorphism and RPL risk. Methods: Electronic search of PubMed and the Chinese Biomedicine database was conducted ...

Case control studies suggest a relationship between maternal stress during pregnancy and childhood ADHD. However, maternal smoking, parenting style and parental psychiatric disorder are possible confounding factors. Our objective was to control for these factors by using an intra-familial design, and investigate gene-environment interactions. One hundred forty two children, ages ...

We examined whether two functional polymorphisms (g.-1306C>T and g.-735C>T) in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 gene are associated with preeclampsia (PE) or gestational hypertension (GH), and whether they modify MMP-2 or tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-2 plasma concentrations in these hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. We studied 130 healthy pregnant (HP), 130 pregnant ...

This pictorial essay aims to inform related clinicians by summarizing the normal and abnormal sonographic findings of the yolk sac in the first trimester of pregnancy. An abnormality in the sonographic appearance of a yolk sac can predict subsequent embryonic death or abnormalities. Therefore, the accurate recognition of normal and ...

Decidual macrophages (DM) are the second most abundant population in the fetal-maternal interface. Their role has been so far identified as being local immuno-modulators favoring the maternal tolerance to the fetus. Herein we investigated tissue samples from 11 cases of spontaneous miscarriages and from 9 cases of elective terminations of ...

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of the 11-14 week scan in detecting fetuses with structural anomalies.Study design and methods: Prospective interventional study in an unselected population of pregnant women in a 5-year period (2003-2008) in a single ultrasound unit. 8889 fetuses with median CRL ...

To produce a fetal weight chart representative of a Tanzanian population, and compare it to weight charts from Sub-Saharan Africa and the developed world. A longitudinal observational study in Northeastern Tanzania. Pregnant women were followed throughout pregnancy with serial trans-abdominal ultrasound. All pregnancies with pathology were excluded and a chart ...

Studies have shown an association between recurrent pregnancy loss and inherited thrombophilia in Caucasian populations, but there is insufficient knowledge concerning triethnic populations such as the Colombian. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether inherited thrombophilia is associated with recurrent pregnancy loss. Methods. We conducted a case-control study ...

Leptin is known to be elevated in pre-eclampsia/ pregnancy induced hypertension (PE/PIH). However the reports on the association of leptin receptor (LEPR) c.668A>G polymorphism with PE/PIH are inconsistent. LEPR c.668A>G polymorphism was studied in a cohort of women with PE/PIH (N = 61) and normotensive pregnancies (N = 40) by ...

The aim of this study was to determine whether or not interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) polymorphisms are associated with risk of unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) among North Indian women. This retrospective case-control study examine 200 well-characterized RPL cases for IL-1 gene cluster ...

OBJECTIVE: To report on the investigation and fertility management of variant primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: University-affiliated assisted reproductive technologies practice. PATIENT(S): A 40 year-old man presenting with 12 months' primary infertility, complete sperm immotility, severe morphologic defects, and moderate sinopulmonary disease. INTERVENTION(S): Electron microscopy (EM) of ...

Randomized control trials demonstrate beneficial effects of heparin in high-risk pregnancies to prevent pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. However the lack of placental pathology data in these trials challenges the assumption that heparin is a placental anticoagulant. Recent data demonstrates that placental infarction is more likely to be associated with ...

Please cite this paper as: Page L, Girling J. A novel cause for abnormal liver function tests in pregnancy and the puerperium: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. BJOG 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2011.03070.x. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the commonest liver disease in the western world, but has never been reported in ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the sensitivity of first-trimester ultrasound for diagnosing different structural anomalies in chromosomally normal pregnancies, and the role of aneuploidy markers in the detection of abnormalities. METHODS: This was a retrospective study including chromosomally normal singleton pregnancies with a 11-14 week scan performed in our center during the ...