Effects of the Mediterranean Diet during pregnancy on the onset of allergy in at risk children: A study protocol of a multi-center, randomized- controlled, parallel groups, prospective trial (the PREMEDI study).

Introduction: Maternal diet during pregnancy has been linked to offspring allergy risk and it could represent a potential target for allergy prevention. The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is considered one of the healthiest dietary models. Randomized-controlled trials on the effect of MD in preventing pediatric allergic diseases are still needed.

Butyrate as a bioactive human milk protective component against food allergy.

Background: Food allergy (FA) is a growing health problem worldwide. Effective strategies are advocated to limit the disease burden. Human milk (HM) could be considered as a protective factor against FA, but its mechanisms remain unclear.

Incidence of toxoplasmosis in pregnancy in Campania: A population-based study on screening, treatment, and outcome.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of toxoplasmosis infection during pregnancy and to describe the characteristics of the serological status, management, follow-up and treatment.

Material And Methods: This is a population-based cohort study of women referred for suspected toxoplasmosis during pregnancy from January, 2001 to December, 2012. Suspected toxoplasmosis was defined as positive IgM antibody during pregnancy.

The Dallol Geothermal Area, Northern Afar (Ethiopia)-An Exceptional Planetary Field Analog on Earth.

The Dallol volcano and its associated hydrothermal field are located in a remote area of the northern Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, a region only recently appraised after decades of inaccessibility due to severe political instability and the absence of infrastructure. The region is notable for hosting environments at the very edge of natural physical-chemical extremities. It is surrounded by a wide, hyperarid salt plain and is one of the hottest (average annual temperature: 36-38°C) and most acidic natural systems (pH ≈0) on Earth.

In vitro resistance to macrolides and clindamycin by Group B Streptococcus isolated from pregnant and nonpregnant women.

Background: Despite the introduction of screening bases intrapartum prophylaxis, Streptococcus agalactiae is still an important etiological agent of perinatal infections. The increasing rate of resistance and the differences in resistance pattern among countries suggest that a program of surveillance at the institutional level is important in determining optimal prophylaxis. In contrast, knowledge on GBS epidemiology in Italy is limited, and no data are available in the Southern region of the country.

Prevalence and characteristics of symptomatic and asymptomatic tuboovarian masses in women with HIV: an ultrasonographic study.

HIV-positive women with pelvic inflammatory disease have been reported to have an increased prevalence of tuboovarian masses (TOMs). The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic ultrasonographic TOMs in women with HIV and to identify associated factors in order to formulate a selective ultrasonographic screening strategy. Two-hundred and four HIV outpatients underwent transvaginal ultrasonography.

Ethic, medical and legal reflections about the fetal protection by a pregnant woman suffering, in comorbidity, from HIV infection.

The trend to have children even if one or both parents suffer from chronic diseases is influenced by personal, psycho-organic and social factors. The Authors face the moral and professional dilemma of honouring a woman's intentions, or persuading her to interrupt her pregnancy to prevent damage to her health.

Fetal borderline cerebral ventriculomegaly: clinical significance and management.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance and the management of fetal borderline lateral cerebral ventriculomegaly.

Methods: Fetuses with a sonographic diagnosis of lateral cerebral ventriculomegaly isolated or associated to other fetal malformations were followed monthly and a review of the English-language literature was made.

Results: Of 86 fetuses analyzed, 30 suffered from hydrocephaly (monolateral, bilateral), 56 showed also several other malformations .

An important clinical lesson from a patient infected with HIV with diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy.

In resource-rich settings, advances in antiretroviral therapy have reduced the morbidity and increased the life expectancy of patients infected with HIV and consequently increased the likelihood of observing other non-HIV-related diseases in this group of patients. We report a high-risk pregnancy in a 26-year-old woman infected with HIV with complicated insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Because of maternal concomitant disease and concerns regarding potential antiretroviral toxicity on maternal disease, an abbreviated regimen of zidovudine prophylaxis was offered to prevent neonatal infection.

Epidemiological and clinical features of pregnant women with HIV: a 21-year perspective from a highly specialized regional center in southern Italy.

Purpose: To analyze the changes over two decades in HIV-infected pregnant women followed at a highly specialized regional center for antenatal care in southern Italy.

Method: Since 1985, all HIV-infected pregnant women attending our center have been monitored using progressively updated protocols.

Results: By December 2006, 230 deliveries in 159 women had been monitored.

Is uterine artery embolization for cervical ectopic pregnancy always safe?

The study objective was to assess the feasibility and the efficacy of bilateral uterine artery embolization (BUAE) for the treatment of cervical pregnancy. The design was a series of 3 cases of viable cervical pregnancy diagnosed by transvaginal ultrasonography and treated by means of BUAE and subsequent uterine curettage. Three women with viable cervical pregnancy underwent BUAE and subsequent uterine curettage in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, High Risk Pregnancy Center, University "Federico II" of Naples.

Early prenatal diagnosis of concordant posterior urethral valves in male monochorionic twins.

The association between monozygotic twins and posterior urethral valves (PUV) in postnatal life has been thoroughly described. In the fetus, the prenatal recognition of PUV is feasible. However, it has been repeatedly reported in singletons but never in monochorionic twins.

Prenatal diagnosis of placental chorioangioma: our experience.

Placental chorioangioma is the most common benign tumor of placenta. The relationship of vascularized chorioangiomas to adverse pregnancy outcome is well recognized. We report 3 cases of placental chorioangioma.

Increasing likelihood of further live births in HIV-infected women in recent years.

Objective: To examine how the subsequent childbearing of HIV-infected mothers enrolled in the European Collaborative Study (ECS) has changed over time and identify factors predictive of further childbearing.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Centres in nine European countries included in the ECS, enrolled between end 1986 and November 2003.

Split notochord syndrome variant: prenatal findings and neonatal management.

Spilt notochord syndrome is an extremely rare form of spinal dysraphism characterized by a complete cleft of the spine and a persistent communication between endoderm and ectoderm. A variant of split notochord syndrome was diagnosed in a 25-week-old fetus showing a prolapsed congenital colostomy and a spinal cystic lesion. The final diagnosis included protruding colon segment, imperforate anus with a rectourethral fistula and lipomyelomeningocele.

Interferon alfa treatment for pregnant women affected by essential thrombocythemia: case reports and a review.

Objectives: In the past essential thrombocythemia was considered a disease of the elderly. At present, the number of young people suffering from this disease is growing, with a slightly higher frequency in females. We investigated the effects of interferon alfa therapy in these patients.

Prenatal diagnosis of hemifacial microsomia and ipsilateral cerebellar hypoplasia in a fetus with oculoauriculovertebral spectrum.

Oculoauriculovertebral spectrum, or Goldenhar syndrome, is characterized by varying degrees of prevalently unilateral underdevelopment of craniofacial structures (orbit, ear, mandible) and spinal anomalies. We report the prenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis made at 24 weeks' gestation in a family with a negative history. The prenatal diagnosis was suspected due to the presence of marked hemifacial microsomia and moderate ipsilateral cerebellar hemisphere hypoplasia in the absence of facial clefting.