Fetal bone age revisited: proposal of a new radiographic score.

In order to establish a fetal bone age score, the post-mortem skeletal radiographs of 85 selected normal fetuses aged from 15 to 41 weeks of gestation (WG) were analysed. Twenty-eight skeletal areas were selected for which quantitative and/or qualitative criteria were defined. Each new aspect was graded and statistically tested by the stepwise linear regression method.

Alterations of human placental epidermal growth factor receptor in intrauterine growth retardation.

We studied human placental microvillous EGF receptor (EGFR) and its relationship with maternal and placental features in 14 cases of intrauterine growth retardation. Placental EGFR phosphorylation was significantly decreased or absent in 12 cases of small for gestational age neonates, as shown by SDS-PAGE, autoradiography, and scanning analysis. Specific [125I]EGF binding and Scatchard plots of the binding data showed a decreased number of EGFR in 6 of the 12 cases, with a mean maximal binding capacity of 1.

Laminin variants and integrin laminin receptors in developing and adult human smooth muscle.

Distribution of laminin variant chains and of laminin-binding beta 1-associated alpha integrin subunits was studied in human arterial and visceral smooth muscle during development using the immunofluorescence method. In aortic media of 10-week-old fetuses (early fetal stage of development), B1, B2, and A chains were found, and at 27 weeks of gestation (late fetal step), in addition, the S chain was revealed. In the major part of adult aortic media, staining for the B1 chain was substituted by staining for the S chain.

In utero fetal cerebral intraparenchymal hemorrhage associated with an abnormal cerebral Doppler.

Cerebral hemorrhages are the most serious complication in preterm and hypotrophic neonates. The mechanisms underlying the formation of these hemorrhages are unclear. In utero Doppler cerebral velocimetry is not yet used as a parameter to predict this complication.

The Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome in fetuses.

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) with partial deletion of the short arm of chromosome 4 has been exceptionally diagnosed in fetuses. We report prenatal diagnosis of five cases of monosomy 4p. The fetuses were karyotyped for severe intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) diagnosed on routine ultrasound (US).