BACKGROUND: Asian lung volumes are 10-15% less than those of Caucasians. OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that healthy Asians might be labeled as abnormal using three commonly used Caucasian-derived prediction equation estimates (PEE) of DLCO currently used. In addition, a Chinese-derived PEE of DLCO was tested to determine its validity ...

Preterm birth produces neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, and dexamethasone (DEX) is administered maternally to induce fetal lung maturation in women at risk of preterm delivery. Antenatal DEX therapy is largely empirical, and administering multiple doses of DEX produces undesirable metabolic and developmental effects in the fetus. It is hypothesized that ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy and precision of prenatal three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound in estimating fetal lung volume using the rotational multiplanar technique (VOCAL) by comparing it to postmortem volume measurements. METHODS: Fetal lung volume was measured during 3D ultrasound examination using a rotational multiplanar technique in eight cases of congenital ...

Although an azygos lobe is a rare anomaly of the lung, its radiological appearance has been well defined. Clinically, the azygos lobe has been accepted as a normal variation that can simulate various diseases. However, on chest roentgenograms, this anomaly may appear to be present if there are any other ...

Diminished vascular and alveolar development is characteristic of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The low fetal O(2) tension promotes angiogenic responses during ontogenesis, while preterm birth interrupts normal lung growth. Most of the angiogenic responses are governed by hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), the expressions of which are unknown in the lungs of preterm ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to evaluate MRI total lung volumes (TLV) for predicting outcome in fetuses with genitourinary abnormalities and to compare lung volumes with the presence or absence of oligohydramnios. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fetuses with genitourinary abnormalities underwent blinded retrospective calculation of TLV. Distribution of the ...

As inhaled fibers may lead to a variety of lung diseases, detailed information on their deposition in the human respiratory tract is an indispensable requirement in medical science. In the work presented here, a Visual Basic((R)) computer program, termed FIBROS, is described which enables the simulation of fibrous particle deposition ...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Pulmonary hypoplasia associated with congenital diaphragmatic hernia remains a major therapeutic problem. Adrenomedullin (AM), a multifunctional regulatory peptide, has been suggested to play a role in the mechanisms of fetal lung differentiation and maturation. The aim of this study was to investigate the pulmonary expression of AM in nitrofen-induced ...

BACKGROUND: The impact of grain dust exposure on lung functions of grain handlers in Nigeria has remained largely undocumented. Lung functions of wheat flourmill workers and control subjects were assessed, and the prevalence of lung function abnormalities was compared among the occupational groups. METHODS: Study subjects consisted of 91 flour-millers, ...

The degree of fetal lung expansion is a critical determinant of fetal lung growth and alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) differentiation, although the mechanisms involved are unknown. As VDUP1 (vitamin D3-upregulated protein 1) can modulate cell proliferation, can induce cell differentiation, and is highly expressed in the lung, we have investigated ...

Tenascin-C (TN-C) is a mesenchyme-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoprotein required for fetal lung branching morphogenesis. Given that the low oxygen (O(2)) environment of the fetus is also essential for normal lung branching morphogenesis, we determined whether fetal O(2) tension supports this process by promoting TN-C expression. Initial studies showed that ...

OBJECTIVE: Assessment of fetal lung maturity by a simple and rapid test has a pivotal role in obstetric managements. Lack of modern laboratory techniques in our country made us investigate whether lamellar body count (LBC) can be applied efficiently in the evaluation of fetal lung maturity. METHODS: Lamellar body count ...

Studies examining the pharmacokinetics of manganese during pregnancy have largely focused on the oral route of exposure and have shown that the amount of manganese that crosses the rodent placenta is low. However, limited information exists regarding the distribution of manganese in fetal tissues following inhalation. The objective of this ...

OBJECTIVE: Failure of fetal growth during pregnancy, and preterm birth, are the major causes of stillbirth and early neonatal death. The objective of the study was to determine the association between maternal hemoglobin concentration during pregnancy and perinatal mortality. STUDY DESIGN: The design was prospective, using data on 222,614 first ...

Fetal growth retardation, hypercoagulation, and changes in pulmonary fibrinolytic activity were observed during experimental gestosis induced by long-term feeding of a high-sodium diet. The course of fraxiparine treatment to correct gestosis improved hemostasis-regulating lung function, decreased coagulation activity of the arterial blood, and increased the weights of the placenta and ...

Abstract We report on an extremely rare chest wall mesenchymal hamartoma associated with a massive fetal pleural effusion. Prenatal ultrasound examination demonstrated a heterogeneous mass in the right thorax associated with a massive pleural effusion and right lung compression at 29 weeks of gestation. The patient underwent pleuroamniotic shunting at ...

PURPOSE: To define retrospectively a normal range for lung-to-liver signal intensity ratio (LLSIR) in fetuses of 16-40 weeks gestation by using half-Fourier single-shot turbo spin-echo magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Approval from the regional ethics review board for retrospective evaluation was obtained, and informed consent was waived. Retrospective ...

OBJECTIVE: Prenatal Ureaplasma spp exposure is associated with preterm birth and modulates the neonates' susceptibility to respiratory distress syndrome and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. We hypothesized that intra-amniotic ureaplasmas would cause lung inflammation and alter fetal lung development. STUDY DESIGN: Pregnant ewes bearing singleton fetuses were given an intra-amniotic injection of 20 ...

We previously found a shorter surfactant disaturated phosphatidylcholine palmitate (DSPC-PA) half-life in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) by using a single stable isotope tracer and simple formulas based on a one-exponential fit of the final portion of the enrichment decay curve. The aim of this study was to apply noncompartmental ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulatory RNAs found in multicellular eukaryotes, including humans, where they are implicated in cancer. The let-7 miRNA times seam cell terminal differentiation in C. elegans. Here we show that the let-7 family negatively regulates let-60/RAS. Loss of let-60/RAS suppresses let-7, and the let-60/RAS 3'UTR contains multiple let-7 ...

Pulmonary antioxidants and their therapeutic implications have been extensively studied during past decades. The purpose of this review is to briefly summarize the key findings of these studies as well as to elaborate on some novel approaches with respect to potential preventive treatments for neonatal chronic lung disease bronchopulmonary dysplasia ...

Three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound (US) has greatly improved evaluation of organ circulation. The aim of this study was to explore the possible use of this new technique in normal and high-risk pregnancies. Fetal brain, lung and placenta 3-D power Doppler signal intensity were recorded in 115 normal singleton pregnancies (24 to ...

Previous studies performed in this laboratory have demonstrated that the fetal lung contains immunoreactive adrenocorticotropin (irACTH), and that the lung both clears and secretes irACTH under basal and stimulated conditions. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the irACTH in fetal lung is accounted for by proopiomelanocortin (POMC), and that there is ...

1. In systemic vessels, haem-oxygenase (HO) is induced during oxidative stress and known to modulate vasodilatation and vascular remodelling. At birth, with the transition from placental to air breathing, the pulmonary vessels are exposed to oxidative stress and undergo well-documented remodelling processes. Thus, we investigated the role of HO in ...

Chronic early gestational chorioamnionitis is associated with development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants. A single intra-amniotic exposure to endotoxin decreased alveolarization and reduced expression of endothelial proteins in 125-day gestational age preterm lambs. We hypothesized that prolonged exposure to intra-amniotic endotoxin would cause progressive lung inflammation and inhibit alveolar ...

The structural and functional integrity of a developing and maturing fetal and neonatal lung is critically dependent on carbohydrate metabolism. The energy derived from carbohydrate metabolism is utilized during the processed of cell growth and development. It is reported that maternal nicotine exposure during pregnancy and lactation results in the ...

The prenatal diagnosis, natural history and management of mainstem bronchial atresia have not been described previously. We report two cases of prenatally diagnosed proximal bronchial atresia. The first patient presented at 18 weeks with sonographic and MRI findings consistent with bronchial atresia with fetal hydrops. The mother developed the mirror ...

A 5-year-old pet rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) died after a 3-day history of anorexia and depression. At necropsy, the stomach was distended with dough-like ingesta and hair consistent with gastric stasis syndrome. The lungs had multifocal, raised red nodules with circumferential hemorrhage. Microscopic examination showed pulmonary hemorrhage with intravascular fibrin thrombi ...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Fetal tracheal occlusion (TO) accelerates lung growth but decreases surfactant production. We have previously shown that instillation of perfluorooctylbromide (PFOB) into fetal rabbit lungs leads to lung growth similar to TO. This study compares neonatal lung mechanics and surfactant production after prenatal intrapulmonary PFOB instillation vs TO. METHODS: In ...

Clinical and experimental information indicate that fetal exposure to inflammation can induce lung maturation. This inflammation may be chronic and indolent. We present clinical and experimental information that challenge assumptions about chorioamnionitis associated infection/inflammatory exposures to the fetus. We question the assumption that the fetal compartment is sterile, and that ...

Based on animal studies, long and thin asbestos fibers (> or =8 microm in length and < or = 0.25 microm in width) have been postulated to be strongly carcinogenic inducing pleural malignant mesothelioma, while shorter, thicker fibers have been postulated to pose a lesser risk (Stanton hypothesis). The objective ...

Cerebral hemoglobin concentration (cHbc), a major determinant of oxygen transport capacity in the brain, shows a considerable variability due to physiological and methodological factors. In order to determine the (relative) contribution of these factors, the cHbc variability within the first 6 hours of life was studied in 28 very preterm ...

A case of a 30-year-old primiparous woman with pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis is described. The patient had experienced six episodes of spontaneous pneumothorax at the age of 27 years and had been diagnosed as having pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis based on histological findings of specimens obtained by transbronchial biopsy. She had undertaken open lung ...

BACKGROUND: After severe trauma, decreased plasma concentrations of the soluble adhesion molecule L-selectin (sCD62L) have been linked to an increased incidence of lung failure and multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Individual studies have had conflicting results, however. We examined multiple studies in an attempt to determine whether early sCD62L concentrations are ...

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this laboratory study was to measure the effect of decreased lung compliance and endotracheal tube (ETT) leakage on measured exhaled tidal volume at the airway and at the ventilator, in a research study with a test lung. METHODS: The subjects were infant, adult and pediatric test ...

OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that pulmonary arteriovenous shunting (PAVS) is normally present in fetal lungs and that cavopulmonary anastomosis-induced PAVS may represent a return to an earlier morphologic stage of development. BACKGROUND: The surgical superior cavopulmonary anastomosis is performed as part of the staged Fontan pathway to treat univentricular forms of ...

A 30 year-old housewife presented with cough and shortness of breath which progressed during her ensuing pregnancy, culminating in a still-birth at 9 months of gestation and requiring her hospitalisation in the immediate postpartum period. HRCT scan of the thorax showed thin-walled cysts and open lung biopsy confirmed the clinical ...

Due to the presence of major lung or extra-pulmonary pathology, which may be unilateral or bilateral, the initial placement of a double-lumen tube is not always straightforward. Although fibreoptic bronchoscopy is often used to confirm "correct" placement, a "blind" technique is frequently used for the initial insertion. The currently widely ...

MAS remains an infrequent but challenging condition confronting neonatologists. Avoidance of postterm pregnancies, improved intrapartum monitoring,and amnioinfusion have been beneficial. Studies have not demonstrated conclusively that any form of ventilation is superior to others, but strategies that recruit alveoli are desirable. Surfactant lavage or replacement may be beneficial. When hypoxic ...

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects on peripheric pulmonary vessel muscularization by tracheal occlusion (TO) performed at different gestational ages in fetal rabbits with surgically induced diaphragmatic hernia. STUDY DESIGN: In 23 New Zealand white does, both ovarian end fetuses underwent surgical creation of diaphragmatic hernia at ...

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to evaluate the quantitative ultrasonic tissue characterization of the normal fetal lung development by using acoustic raw data captured after preprocessing. METHODS: One hundred and sixty-two patients with completed gestational ages between 22 and 37 weeks were enrolled in this study. Longitudinal and transverse sections ...

Our aim was to determine whether cortisol's effect on alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) phenotypes in the fetus is mediated via a sustained alteration in lung expansion. Chronically catheterized fetal sheep were exposed to 1) saline infusion, 2) cortisol infusion (122-131 days' gestation, 1.5-4.0 mg/day), 3) saline infusion plus reduced lung ...

Hypoxia and nutrient restriction during gestation restrict fetal growth and alter lung development. As elastin is intimately involved in lung development, our aim was to assess pulmonary elastin synthesis and deposition following intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) induced by umbilicoplacental embolization (UPE). Pulmonary tropoelastin expression and elastin content were examined at ...

Fetal pelvicaliceal dilatation due to ureteropelvic junction obstruction is the most common cause of antenatal hydronephrosis; it rarely leads to a spontaneous rupture resulting in urinoma formation. Antenatal intervention has been recommended only in those cases of large urinomas that seem to interfere with the function of other organ systems ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the potential of three-dimensional ultrasound to predict outcome in congenital diaphragmatic hernia. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Tertiary care centre. POPULATION: Twelve cases of isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia (11 left-sided, 1 right-sided) and 109 controls. METHODS: Fetal lung volume was assessed by three-dimensional ultrasound using the technique ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of pregnancy on respiratory function in a non-Caucasian group and determine whether there was an interaction between pregnancy and altitude of residence. DESIGN: Prospective cross sectional study. SETTING: Antenatal clinics in Peru, at sea level in Lima and at high altitude in Cerro de Pasco. ...

Parturition is timed to begin only after the developing embryo is sufficiently mature to survive outside the womb. It has been postulated that the signal for the initiation of parturition arises from the fetus although the nature and source of this signal remain obscure. Herein, we provide evidence that this ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine foetal lung blood perfusion using power Doppler ultrasound (PDU) and to compare fractional moving blood volume (FMBV) and mean pixel intensity (MPI) estimations in the lungs of normally grown (NG) foetuses and foetuses with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and also to correlate foetal lung FMBV and MPI ...

Impaired neovascularization is associated with the pathologic presentation of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). To determine if neovascularization and factors that negatively influence blood vessel formation play a role in the evolution of BPD, we examined the temporospatial distribution of a protein known to inhibit fetal lung neovascularization with associated dysplastic lung ...

We hypothesize that IGF-1 and IGF-1R proteins are upregulated in lung epithelia and fibroblasts in RDS compared to normal development, and are further upregulated in BPD. We used immunohistochemistry to evaluate IGF-1 and IGF-R expression in lungs from autopsies of human stillbirths and RDS and BPD patients. IGF-1 and IGF-R ...