Acupuncture combined with Chinese herbs for the treatment in hemivertebral French bulldogs with emergent paraparesis.

This study follows the treatment of six French bulldogs with paraparesis caused by congenital hemivertebra which were structurally mild but clinically severe. A standardized acupuncture ( zhēn jiǔ) treatment using (HTJJ) as local points and other distant points combined with Chinese herbs improved the clinical signs. Few, if any, published papers mention Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) for treatment of hemivertebral paraparesis in French bulldogs.

Retrospective study of the clinical effects of acupuncture on cervical neurological diseases in dogs.

This study was conducted to evaluate new acupuncture protocols for the clinical treatment of cervical spinal cord diseases in 19 dogs. Three treatment options containing Jing-jiaji (cervical jiaji) were developed to treat neck pain, hemiparesis, and tetraparesis depending on the severity. The interval between the neurological disease onset and treatment (duration of signs), time to improvement after treatment, and recovery time were compared in dogs by body weight, age, and dry needle acupuncture (AP) with or without electro-AP (EAP).

Impact of health policy based on the self-management program on Cesarean section rate at a tertiary hospital in Taiwan.

Background/purpose: In 2005, a self-management program, based on the global budget system that met the criteria for reducing Cesarean delivery rates, was introduced to obstetric practices in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of different national health policies on the Cesarean delivery rate at a tertiary hospital.

Methods: We constructed a Poisson regression model and conducted an interrupted time series analysis to detect the effects of the implementation of each health policy on Cesarean deliveries.

Relationship between prenatal care and maternal complications in women with preeclampsia: implications for continuity and discontinuity of prenatal care.

Objective: Prenatal care is associated with better pregnancy outcome and may be a patient safety issue. However, no studies have investigated the types and quality of prenatal care provided in northern Taiwan. This retrospective study assessed whether the hospital-based continuous prenatal care model at tertiary hospitals reduced the risk of perinatal morbidity and maternal complications in pre-eclampsia patients.

Prediction of fetal birthweight in Taiwanese women with pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension using an equation based on maternal characteristics.

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to develop a method for predicting the birthweight of newborns in women with pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension based on maternal characteristics and pregnancy-related factors.

Methods: A total of 661 consecutive pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension who delivered at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital from 1994 to 2003 were included in the analysis. Multivariate regression formulas (Models I and II) were derived from maternal characteristics to predict low infant birthweight.

Risk factors for recurrence of group B streptococcus colonization in a subsequent pregnancy.

Objective: To document rates of recurrent group B streptococci (GBS) colonization in women with previous GBS colonization in an initial pregnancy and to assess maternal risk factors associated with recurrence.

Methods: A retrospective, longitudinal study was performed in a teaching hospital on women with GBS colonization who were pregnant between 2002 and 2006 and had at least one subsequent pregnancy during the same time period. When only the index and first subsequent pregnancy were analyzed, the cohort included 251 women.

Maternal complications and perinatal outcomes associated with gestational hypertension and severe preeclampsia in Taiwanese women.

Background/purpose: The role of proteinuria in disease severity of preeclampsia and gestational hypertension has not been determined. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of disease severity on maternal complications and pregnancy outcome between women with severe preeclampsia and women with gestational hypertension.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study using daily records from the birth registry for the years 1994 to 2003 was conducted.

Comparisons of maternal and perinatal outcomes in Taiwanese women with complete and partial HELLP syndrome and women with severe pre-eclampsia without HELLP.

Aim: To analyze the variations between maternal complications and perinatal outcome among women with complete hemolysis, elevated liver enzyme levels, and low platelet count (HELLP) syndrome, partial HELLP syndrome, and women with severe pre-eclampsia and normal laboratory tests. We also examine the effect of corticosteroid therapy for treatment of HELLP.

Methods: In this retrospective study, six patients with complete HELLP syndrome and 46 with partial HELLP syndrome, were compared and contrasted with 212 patients with severe pre-eclampsia but without HELLP syndrome.

Comparison of referral and non-referral hypertensive disorders during pregnancy: an analysis of 271 consecutive cases at a tertiary hospital.

Background: This retrospective cohort study analyzed the clinical manifestations in patients with preeclampsia and eclampsia, assessed the risk factors compared to the severity of hypertensive disorders on maternal and perinatal morbidity, and mortality between the referral and non-referral patients.

Methods: 271 pregnant women with preeclampsia and eclampsia were assessed (1993 to 1997). Chi-square analysis was used for the comparison of categorical variables, and the comparison of the two independent variables of proportions in estimation of confidence intervals and calculated odds ratio of the referral and non-referral groups.

Diagnosis of chromosomal anomalies due to adjacent-1 malsegregation resulting from translocation heterozygotes.

Patients who are carriers of reciprocal translocations may have pregnancies with unbalanced karyotypes that result in miscarriage or congenital anomalies of offspring. We report 3 cases of unbalanced karyotype resulting from adjacent-1 malsegregation in the conceptuses of heterozygous carriers of balanced translocations. The combined use of genetic markers in ultrasound, chromosomal analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization to make accurate prenatal diagnosis is described.

First-trimester nuchal translucency measurement and echocardiography at 16 to 18 weeks of gestation in prenatal detection for trisomy 18.

Background: Trisomy 18, the second most common autosomal trisomy, has the highest incidence of congenital heart disease of all chromosomal abnormalities. This study assessed the use of nuchal translucency (NT) measurement and fetal echocardiography at 16 to 18 weeks of gestation in prenatal detection for trisomy 18.

Methods: Screening for chromosomal aneuploidy using fetal NT measurement was performed at 10 to 14 weeks of gestation.