: Fetal epignathus, a teratoma arising from the oropharynx that may be lethal, can be diagnosed prenatally. : A 29-year-old woman, gravida 1, was evaluated for an elevated alpha-fetoprotein level. Imaging evaluation revealed a fetal epignathus without intracranial extension. Preterm labor necessitated delivery at 27 5/7 weeks of gestation with ...

CONTEXT: The thyroid hormone and retinol binding protein transthyretin (TTR) is synthesised by human trophoblasts. Polarised JEG-3 choriocarcinoma cells grown in bicameral chambers secrete TTR predominantly apically but also basally and these cells and human trophoblasts also take up TTR suggesting that there may be a placental TTR shuttle that ...

Context:Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental chemicals. Fetal exposure to certain phthalates [e.g. di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP)] causes masculinization disorders in rats, raising concern for similar effects in humans. We investigated whether DBP exposure impairs steroidogenesis by the human fetal testis.Objective:The aim of the study was to determine effects of DBP exposure on ...

AIMS: To examine the causes of variability in the effect of maternal drinking on the foetus, with particular reference to the pattern, frequency and duration of the period of drinking, differences in maternal, foetal and placental metabolism of ethanol/acetaldehyde, and genetic factors. METHODS: Narrative review of published studies of the ...

Objective. To review the procedure related complication rates following fetal blood sampling and intrauterine red cell transfusion for anaemic fetuses at a single tertiary centre. Design. This is a retrospective study of 114 intrauterine transfusions. Setting. A single tertiary referral fetal medicine centre at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Imperial ...

BACKGROUND: Controversies still exist regarding the existence of a 'safe' level of alcohol intake during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of fetal death (spontaneous abortion and stillbirth) according to maternal alcohol consumption in a large Danish pregnancy cohort. METHODS: A cohort study carried out ...

Fetal intervention encompasses a range of procedures on the fetus with congenital structural anomalies, whilst still on the placental circulation. The concept of fetal surgery was conceived in order to prevent fetal or early postnatal death, or to prevent permanent irreversible organ damage. The benefit of these procedures has to ...

BACKGROUND:Emerging antenatal interventions and care delivery to the fetus require diagnostic support, including laboratory technologies, appropriate methodologies, establishment of special algorithms, and interpretative guidelines for clinical decision-making.CONTENT:Fetal diagnostic(1) and therapeutic interventions vary in invasiveness and are associated with a spectrum of risks and benefits. Fetal laboratory assessments are well served ...

Fetal Heart Rate (FHR) monitoring is one of the most important fetal well being tests. Existing FHR monitoring methods are based on Doppler ultrasound technique, which has several disadvantages. Passive fetal monitoring by phonocardiography is an appropriate alternative; however, its implementation is a challenging task due to low energy of ...

Alcohol-exposed pregnancies are especially of concern for American Indians. The Indian Health Service reported that 47% to 56% of pregnant patients admitted to drinking alcohol during their pregnancy. In addition, rates of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome are estimated to be as high as 3.9 to 9.0 per 1,000 live births among ...

Background:  Ethanol (EtOH) consumption during pregnancy can lead to fetal growth retardation, mental retardation, and neurodevelopmental delay. The fetal brain initiates neurogenesis and vasculogenesis during the second trimester, and depends on maternal-fetal circulation for nutrition and growth signals. We used high-resolution in vivo ultrasound imaging to test the hypothesis that ...

Genes from Ugt1a family in placenta and fetal liver are responsible for hormone, nutrient and chemical balance during pregnancy. Assisted reproduction technologies (ART) i.e. intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) alter steroid homeostasis in pregnancy through increased glucuronidation. Here we show that ART (particularly ICSI) upregulates Ugt1a1, 1a2, ...

Abstract This paper proposes an improved local principal component analysis (LPCA) in pseudo phase space for fetal heart rate estimation from a single lead abdominal ECG signal. The improved LPCA process can extract both the maternal ECG component and the fetal ECG component in an abdominal signal. The instantaneous fetal ...

In addition to lowering cholesterol, statins increase nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability, improving endothelial function. In the fetus, enhanced NO during acute hypoxia opposes the fetal peripheral vasoconstrictor response, part of the brain sparing defence. This study tested the hypothesis that treatment with statins depresses the fetal circulatory response to acute ...

OBJECTIVES: Exposure to glucocorticoid levels inappropriately high for current maturation alters fetal hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) development. In an established fetal sheep model, we determined whether clinical betamethasone doses used to accelerate fetal lung maturation have persistent effects on fetal HPAA hypotensive-stress responses. STUDY DESIGN: Pregnant ewes received saline (n = ...

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical course and outcome of fetal sinus bradycardia (SB) due to maternal antibody-induced sinus node dysfunction. METHODS: We reviewed the maternal, prenatal, and postnatal findings of fetuses with SB associated with elevated maternal anti-SSA/Ro and anti-SSB/La antibodies. RESULTS: Of the 6 cases diagnosed prenatally, 3 had ...

Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia constitutes the most common cause of severe thrombocytopenia in fetuses and neonates and of intracranial hemorrhage among term newborns. The cornerstone of therapy involves the use of steroids and intravenous immunoglobulins. Despite the risk of potentially devastating consequences to the fetus, fetal blood sampling has ...

Lee J, Romero R, Dong Z, Xu Y, Qureshi F, Jacques S, Yoo W, Chaiworapongsa T, Mittal P, Hassan S S & Kim C J (2011) Histopathology  59, 928-938 Unexplained fetal death has a biological signature of maternal anti-fetal rejection: chronic chorioamnionitis and alloimmune anti-human leucocyte antigen antibodies Aims:  Chronic ...

The limits of placental plasticity, i.e., the ability of the placenta to adapt and alter its growth trajectory in response to altered fetal requirements, are not known. We report fetal and placental hemodynamic adaptations in a novel non-human primate model in which the fetal inter-placental bridging vessels were surgically ligated. ...

AIMS: We aimed to assess the effects of exposure to tobacco smoke, alcohol and illegal drugs during early pregnancy on the head circumference (HC) at birth of otherwise healthy neonates. METHODS: A follow-up study from the first trimester of pregnancy to birth was carried out in 419 neonates. An environmental ...

We posit that: (i) light alcohol consumption during pregnancy does not improve the cognitive development of human offspring and (ii) observational study outcomes indicating apparent protective effects arise from residual confounding due to socioeconomic status. Our hypotheses counter emerging hypotheses apparent in the epidemiological literature that light alcohol consumption during ...

In addition to its role in neurotransmission, embryonic serotonin (5-HT) has been implicated in the regulation of neurodevelopmental processes. For example, we recently showed that a subset of 5-HT1-receptors expressed in the fetal forebrain mediate a serotonergic modulation of thalamocortical axons in response to axon guidance cues, both in vitro ...

Regulations for the disposal of genetically engineered animals are strict due to concern for their inappropriate introduction into the food chain, and of the possible public health and environmental impacts of these organisms. Nontransgenic animals that give birth to transgenic offspring are treated as if they are transgenic due to ...

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a leading cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities. The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics and behaviors of mothers of children with FAS in the United States using population-based data from the FAS Surveillance Network (FASSNet). FASSNet used a multiple source ...

In human pregnancy, reduced placental perfusion has been associated with fetal aortic thickening. However, the relative contributions of fetal undernutrition versus fetal underoxygenation to triggering alterations in fetal cardiovascular development remain uncertain. Here, we isolate the effects of chronic fetal hypoxia on fetal cardiovascular development in a specific rodent model ...

The phenotype and fate of fetal microchimeric cells transfered into the maternal circulation during pregnancy are not well described. Since progenitors from distal sites mobilize during wound healing, we analyzed the recruitment and plasticity of fetal progenitors into maternal wounds. Wounds were generated on normal and bleomycin-induced fibrotic skin of ...

We describe a 22-week female fetus after pregnancy was terminated because of fetal magnetic resonance imaging showing a large left cerebral hemispheric cleft suggestive of porencephaly or schizencephaly. Postmortem examination revealed a large cavernous angioma of the left opercular region with evidence of previous hemorrhage and extensive cerebral infarction. In ...

Many pregnant women in Denmark have been advised that some alcohol intake is acceptable. In the 1999-2007-period, the Danish National Board of Health advised pregnant women that some alcohol intake was acceptable. From 2007, alcohol abstinence has been recommended. We aimed to describe the attitudes towards and knowledge about alcohol ...

The knowledge of the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy isn't indeed a new issue, but the recent evidences of ethyl-glucuronide and ethyl-sulfate in meconium as novel biomarkers of prenatal ethanol exposure open new perspectives for the early diagnosis of the alcohol-related birth defects. This is crucial for a better ...

: To explore the factors possibly associated with the intrapartum management of nonreassuring fetal status and the factors affecting the decision to expedite delivery for fetal distress among different obstetric health care providers. : In a cross-sectional study, a standardized hypothetical clinical scenario of management of fetal distress was presented ...

Issues. The lack of consensus about whether low to moderate levels of prenatal alcohol exposure are a risk factor for fetal development has generated considerable debate about what advice policies and guidelines should provide. Approach. This paper reviews the evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining the risk from low ...

Fetal hypoxia adversely affects the brain and heart development, yet the mechanisms responsible remain elusive. Recent studies indicate an important role of the extracellular matrix in fetal development and tissue remodeling. The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their endogenous inhibitors, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) have been implicated in a variety ...

It is the current status of fetal ventriculomegaly that although the technology for diagnosis is advanced, it does not have significant impact on the management outcome. Fetal ventriculomegaly is mainly treated after birth. We reviewed the literature and suggested policies of postnatal evaluation and surgical management of fetal hydrocephalus. Our ...

Reliable monitoring of fetal condition often requires more information than is provided by cardiotocography, the standard technique for fetal monitoring. Abdominal recording of the fetal electrocardiogram may offer valuable additional information, but unfortunately is troubled by poor signal-to-noise ratios during certain parts of pregnancy. To increase the usability of abdominal ...

Fetal sheep defend blood pressure, blood volume, and blood gases using baro- and chemoreflexes that influence autonomic and neuroendocrine responses. The local generation of prostanoids within the fetal brain is also an important component in activating hormone responses to these stimuli, but the relationship between the reflexes and prostanoid biosynthesis ...

: This study describes the factors associated with self-reported substance use in pregnant young women attending a hospital clinic and evaluates 3 ways in its identification. : A cross-sectional study of 30 pregnant young adults who responded to a mail survey containing the CRAFFT screening tool. All completed a diagnostic ...

This article is third in a series on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), and centers on preventing an alcohol exposed pregnancy (AEP). FASDs are 100% preventable if a woman does not drink alcohol during pregnancy. As many pregnancies are unintended, Arkansas providers would best serve childbearing women if they would ...

Abstract This study evaluated in vitro immune responses to Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide in maternal and fetal blood. Samples were concurrently obtained from maternal venipuncture and umbilical cord blood samples and cultured with the E. coli endotoxin, and cytokines were assayed. There were statistically significant correlations between maternal and fetal samples. ...

Abstract Background: Drinking alcohol during pregnancy has a range of negative consequences for the developing fetus. Screening and brief intervention approaches have significant promise, but their population impact may be limited by a range of challenges to implementation. We, therefore, conducted preliminary acceptability and feasibility evaluation of a computer-delivered brief ...

Little is known about alcohol effects on the utero-placental compartment during pregnancy. For the first time, we utilized 2-D DIGE quantitative proteomics to evaluate the role of the uterus in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) pathogenesis. Uterine artery endothelial cells were isolated from pregnant ewes, FAC sorted, validated, and maintained ...

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy may be complicated by fetal arrhythmia, fetal hypoxia, preterm labor, and, in severe cases, intrauterine death. The precise etiology of fetal death is not known. However, taurocholate has been demonstrated to cause arrhythmia and abnormal calcium dynamics in cardiomyocytes. To identify the underlying reason for increased ...

The increasing functional integrity of the organism during fetal maturation is connected with increasing complex internal coordination mediated by the autonomic nervous system. We hypothesize that time scales of complex and dynamic inter-dependencies over more than one heart beat interval reflect the increasing complex adjustments within the fetal organism during ...

Non-invasive fetal health monitoring during pregnancy has become increasingly important. Recent advances in signal processing technology have enabled fetal monitoring during pregnancy, using abdominal ECG recordings. Ubiquitous ambulatory monitoring for continuous fetal health measurement is however still unfeasible due to the computational complexity of noise robust solutions. In this paper ...

Fetal heart rate monitoring is fundamental to infer information about fetal health state during pregnancy. The cardiotocography (CTG) is the most common antepartum monitoring technique. Abdominal ECG recording represents the most valuable alternative to cardiotocography, as it allows passive, non invasive and long term fetal monitoring. Unluckily fetal ECG has ...

Monitoring fetal wellbeing is a compelling problem in modern obstetrics. Clinicians have become increasingly aware of the link between fetal activity (movement), well-being, and later developmental outcome. We have recently developed an ambulatory accelerometer-based fetal activity monitor (AFAM) to record 24-hour fetal movement. Using this system, we aim at developing ...

The past 2 decades have yielded profound advances in the fields of prenatal diagnosis and fetal intervention. Although fetal interventions are driven by a beneficence-based motivation to improve fetal and neonatal outcomes, advancement in fetal therapies raises ethical issues surrounding maternal autonomy and decision-making, concepts of innovation versus research, and ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: To explore women's alcohol consumption in pregnancy, and potential predictors of alcohol consumption in pregnancy including: demographic characteristics; and women's knowledge and attitudes regarding alcohol consumption in pregnancy and its effects on the fetus. METHODS: We conducted a national cross-sectional survey via computer assisted telephone interview of 1103 ...

Aims:  Alcohol-exposed pregnancies (AEP) are the direct cause of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). This study examines drinking patterns among pregnant and non-pregnant women of childbearing age in Russia, a country with one of the highest levels of alcohol consumption in the world. Design:  Cross-sectional survey. Setting:  7 public women's ...

Please cite this paper as: Scheffer P, Ait Soussan A, Verhagen O, Page-Christiaens G, Oepkes D, de Haas M, van der Schoot C. Noninvasive fetal genotyping of human platelet antigen-1a. BJOG 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2011.03039.x. We describe a reliable noninvasive fetal human platelet antigen (HPA)-1a genotyping assay on a real-time polymerase ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy may potentially constitute a major public health concern in Canada but despite this, the available epidemiological data on both rates and predictors of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is limited. The present study assessed the prevalence and predictors of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy ...