[Present relation of obstetrics and gynecology between the USA and Germany].

After World War II there was a blooming association between German and American Obstetricians-Gynecologists. When young German scientists began Fellowships in the US, they found German Professors of all ranks teaching in the various medical schools. At present there is no connection between the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe (DGGG) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists ACOG.

[Incidence and etiology of brachial plexus upper arm paralysis in newborn infants. A review and basic principles for legal assessment].

Objective: Brachial plexus injury (BPI) is a rare complication of pregnancy which is out of proportion involved in medical litigation. The aim of this study was to establish the relationship between shoulder dystocia (SD) and BPI and the frequency of BPI without explanation.

Method: The pertinent literature was reviewed.

[The future of the German language in science].

The German language served the scientific community for decades during the 20th century. The shift to the English language was considered by some as a loss of cultural identity. A view difficult to support, since not only Germany but also countries like Switzerland and Austria are part of the cultural heritage.

The beginning of human life.

The beginning of human life is seen differently by different individuals, groups, cultures, and religions. Embryonic and fetal life are a continuum, within which are time sequences and points--birth of a newborn, viability, neuromaturation, implantation, and conception--that may be declared as the beginning of human life. For each of these there are ethical and legal implications and considerations.

[The "cerebral palsy story": a misunderstanding and its sequelae].

Applying unproven medical technology to poorly understood fetal physiology resulted in a costly catastrophic mistake. Assumptions and false analogous conclusions led to the expectation that prevention of "fetal distress" could prevent brain damage. Hopefully the story of this mistake will be a warning for unproven medical technology.

[Estrogens and cardiovascular diseases: should current guidelines be changed?].

Survey about oral contraceptives and postmenopausal hormonal replacement therapy and the effects on coagulation system. The question to withdraw oral contraceptives 4 weeks before a gynecological operation cannot be answered sufficiently. The pros and cons have been discussed.

[Do sex steroids cause breast and genital cancers? Epidemiologic data--the current status (July 1993)].

Present literature on epidemiology shows, that estrogens administered either in the form of contraceptives or as replacement therapy will reduce the relative risk of ovarian carcinoma to less than 0.5. Likewise this result was also seen in all studies without exception.

Confusion of trimester and viability. Consequences for abortion laws in the United States and abroad.

The present U.S. abortion law, Roe v Wade, is based on the trimester/viability concept.

Abortion: is there a rational precept?

Recent Supreme Court rulings have augmented the potential role of the individual states in abortion regulation. As a result, largely political influences have escalated the abortion debate to the point that there is currently no identifiable center, and consensus seems impossible. The traditional concept of viability has proven an inadequate basis for extension of personal rights and protections to the fetus.

Benign breast disease.

Perhaps the most remarkable trend relevant to benign breast disease during the past year is the relative paucity of new investigations. This interesting trend is reflected in one of the most remarkable recent texts on this subject. In The Breast: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant Disorders (Bland et al.

[Sexual development: development of secondary sex characteristics--Tanner stages 25 years later].

In a longitudinal study the british pediatrician J.M. Tanner evaluated the development of breasts (thelarche), of pubic hairs (pubarche) and age of menarche.

[Therapy and prognosis of small breast cancers. Comparison of subcutaneous mastectomy procedures with ablatio mammae].

A retrospective clinical study included 1283 patients with breast cancer. 307 of 762 tumours with known diameter (mm) were classified as stage pT1 (TNM, 70). Four groups were formed to compare the prognosis in subgroups of pT1 cancers: 0-5 mm (n = 22), 6-9 mm (n = 22), 10 mm (n = 53) and 11-20 mm (n = 210).

Brain life and brain death--the anencephalic as an explanatory example. A contribution to transplantation.

The current debate regarding the suitability of anencephalics as organ donors is due primarily to misunderstandings. The anatomical and neurophysiological literature shows that the anencephalic lacks a cerebrum because of the failure of neuralplate fusion. However, even the incomplete function of an atrophic brain stem is currently accepted at law in most if not all countries as sufficient for brain life: which is to say, cessation of breathing is currently required in order to make the diagnosis of brain death.

[Myeloreticulosis of the uterus following acute myeloid leukemia].

Tumorous manifestations of myelosis with or without leukemia are rarely seen today as they appear at a very late stage of the disease. They are of importance to the gynecologist in the differential diagnoses concerning the breast, the endometrium and uterus, the placenta and the fetus. The case report of a myeloreticulosis of the uterus, three years after an acute myeloid leukemia was treated, is described.

[Central European study of the development of secondary sex characteristics in girls. I. Axillary hair as the 4th secondary sex characteristic].

As a part of the Central European Study a long-term study of the pubertal development of 687 Hungarian girls was undertaken and the findings compared with those of a cross-sectional study of a group of girls from Münster. In addition to assessment of the breast and pubic hair according to Tanner's classification, the development of axillary hair was, for the first time, subdivided into five stages (A1 to A5). This pubertal feature was related to the characteristics already known and, because of the absence of literature, compared with the author's own data.

[The tumor marker CA 15-3 in breast cancer in serum and cell compartments as an additional prognostic criterion].

In 86 woman patients having a histologically confirmed carcinoma of the breast we examined during primary treatment the CA 15-3 data in the compartments serum, cytosol and a membrane fraction. Low CA 15-3 levels in the serum combined with high concentrations in cytosol and the membrane fraction were associated with a good prognosis, whereas a poor prognosis was seen in case of high serum values and simultaneously low values in the cytosol and the membrane fraction. Hence, it seems that prognoses of the future course of the disease are possible if the CA 15-3 values are simultaneously determined in the serum, in cytosol and in a membrane fraction.