Meconium Concentrations of Pesticides and Risk of Hypospadias: A Case-Control Study in Brittany, France.

Background: Hypospadias is a male genital tract defect for which an increase in prevalence has been documented over the last few decades. A role for environmental risk factors is suspected, including prenatal exposure to pesticides.

Objectives: To study the risk of hypospadias in association with multiple pesticide measurements in meconium samples.

Petroleum and Chlorinated Solvents in Meconium and the Risk of Hypospadias: A Pilot Study.

Hypospadias is a male congenital malformation that occurs in ~2 of 1,000 births. The association between hypospadias and fetal exposure to environmental chemicals has been studied, but the results are inconsistent. Although several petroleum and chlorinated solvents are suspected to have teratogenic effects, their role in the occurrence of hypospadias has been little studied and never using biomarkers of exposure.

Prognostic value of EEG in very premature newborns.

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of EEG regarding the psychomotor outcomes of very premature newborns.

Methods: 76 premature infants <30 weeks gestation were enrolled between January 2001 and August 2004. They were examined at 4 and 9 months corrected ages, and at 18 months, 3-4 years and 5-6 years.

Neonatal screening of cystic fibrosis: diagnostic problems with CFTR mild mutations.

Newborn screening (NBS) of cystic fibrosis (CF) was implemented throughout the whole of France in 2002, but it had been established earlier in three western French regions. It can reveal atypical CF with one or two known CFTR mild mutations, with an uncertain evolution. The sweat test can be normal or borderline.