Complete fetal transection after a motor vehicle collision.

Background: Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of fetal death related to maternal trauma, with rupture of the gravid uterus being one potential grave outcome.

Case: We present a case of a woman at 22 weeks of gestation who presented to the emergency department after a "high-speed" motor vehicle collision. On initial presentation, she was hemodynamically stable, and the examination was significant for midabdominal transverse ecchymosis from seatbelt trauma.

Ultrasound and MRI appearance and evolution of hydranencephaly in utero: a case report.

Background: Hydranencephaly is the total or near-total destruction of the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia. The thalami and lower brain centers are typically preserved. This condition is usually preceded by occlusion of the internal carotid arteries, resulting in massive brain infarction.

Fetoplacental vascular tone is modified by magnesium sulfate in the preeclamptic ex vivo human placental cotyledon.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate fetoplacental vascular tone and response to a vasoconstrictor in placentas of preeclamptic and normotensive pregnancies with and without the presence of magnesium sulfate.

Study Design: Two cotyledons from each placenta were selected from preeclamptic (n=8) and normotensive (n=7) pregnancies. In one cotyledon from each pair, the maternal circuit was perfused with magnesium sulfate.

The effect of fetal acidemia on fetal-placental vascular tone and production of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine the effects of fetal acidemia on placental vascular tone and production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha).

Study Design: With use of an ex vivo placental perfusion model, the maternal and fetal circulation of two cotyledons from five human placentas were perfused for 4 hours. The fetal circulation of one cotyledon was perfused with acidemic (pH 6.

Relationship between the extent of histologic villous mineralization and stillbirth in aneuploid and euploid fetuses.

Objective: To describe the relationship between the degree of placental histologic villous mineralization (VM) and stillbirth in aneuploid and euploid fetuses.

Methods: The extent of VM for aneuploid and gestational age-matched euploid placentas was graded semiquantitatively on a 0 to 3 scale based on the number of terminal or stem villi containing mineralizations in forty x10 fields of view. The extent of VM was analyzed in relation to fetal status at delivery (liveborn or stillborn) for both aneuploid and euploid fetuses.

Connexin 43 expression in normal versus dysfunctional labor.

Objective: We sought to determine whether connexin 43 (Cx43), the major myometrial gap junction protein, is differentially expressed in normal versus dysfunctional labor.

Study Design: Myometrial biopsies were obtained from 28 patients undergoing cesarean section and grouped into the following categories: (1) no labor, (2) dysfunctional labor, and (3) normal labor. Northern and Western analyses were performed to determine Cx43 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression, respectively.