Effect of B-mode optimization techniques on fetal bowel echogenicity using computerized image analysis.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide and compare measurable parameters for normal fetal bowel echogenicity under predefined B-mode scanning presets.

Methods: Forty healthy fetuses underwent 14- to 17-week ultrasound scans, and 40 underwent 21- to 25-week scans. Sagittal, coronal, and axial fetal abdominal images were tested using predefined B-mode presets.

Sonography of the fetal cochlea in the early second trimester of pregnancy.

Objectives: To examine the feasibility of imaging the fetal cochlea in the early second trimester.

Methods: This study included 42 healthy fetuses of low-risk pregnancies between 14 and 16 weeks. The coronal head sections via sagittal and lateral acoustic windows were used for cochlear visualization.

KRIT1 regulates the homeostasis of intracellular reactive oxygen species.

KRIT1 is a gene responsible for Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCM), a major cerebrovascular disease characterized by abnormally enlarged and leaky capillaries that predispose to seizures, focal neurological deficits, and fatal intracerebral hemorrhage. Comprehensive analysis of the KRIT1 gene in CCM patients has suggested that KRIT1 functions need to be severely impaired for pathogenesis. However, the molecular and cellular functions of KRIT1 as well as CCM pathogenesis mechanisms are still research challenges.

[Ultrasound in the evaluation of intrauterine infection during pregnancy].

Ultrasound has an important role in the detection and follow- up of intrauterine infection. Viral infections are a major cause of fetal morbidity and mortality. Transplacental transmission of the virus, even in sub-clinical maternal infection, may result in a severe congenital syndrome.

Variations of the origin of renal arteries in the fetus identified on power Doppler and 3D sonography.

Purpose: To investigate anatomic variations of renal arteries (RAs) using 2-dimensional (2D)/3D power Doppler sonography (PDUS) in normal fetuses and in fetuses with renal anomalies.

Methods: The origin, direction, and distribution of RAs were studied in 120 fetuses without renal malformations using 2D/3D PDUS. Studies were performed between 14 and 17 weeks of gestation age on 64 male and 56 female fetuses.

Evaluation of fetal cerebrovascular circulation and brain development: the role of ultrasound and Doppler.

The human fetal brain is protected from pressure changes by autoregulation of the cerebral circulation. However, antenatal intrauterine cerebrovascular events are found to play an important role in the pathogenesis of perinatal brain damage. Changes in placental vascular resistance, cardiac contractibility, vessel compliance, and blood viscosity alter the normal dynamics of fetal cerebral circulation.

Expectant management of pregnancy-related high-velocity uterine arteriovenous shunt diagnosed after abortion.

Objective: To assess sonographic and clinical outcome in women with pregnancy-related uterine arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) diagnosed after abortion.

Method: Twelve patients diagnosed as having AVMs after abortion were followed-up until resolution of the lesions.

Results: The 9 asymptomatic patients were managed expectantly for 4 to 10 weeks without further complications.

Fetal eyeball volume: relationship to gestational age and biparietal diameter.

Objective: To measure and determine normal values of the fetal eyeball volume between 14 and 40 weeks of gestation.

Methods: The volume of the fetal eyeball was measured with three-dimensional ultrasound between 14 and 40 weeks of gestation using the VOCAL software.Only singleton pregnancies without fetal growth restriction, diabetes mellitus, hypertension or major fetal malformation were included.

Twins' temperament: early prenatal sonographic assessment and postnatal correlation.

Objective: To study inter-twin differences in activity during early pregnancy and to examine their relationship to subsequent infant twins' temperament.

Study Design: Measures of fetal motor activity (frequency, duration and number of movements) were collected from 26 twin pairs during ultrasound nuchal translucency scan at late first trimester and early second trimester (11 to 14 weeks gestation). In twenty-two patients, the twins were dizygotic (dichorionic); of them, 13 twin pairs were of different sexes, five were both females and four were both males.

Fetal cerebrovascular circulation: a review of prenatal ultrasound assessment.

Antenatal intrauterine cerebrovascular events were found to play an important role in the pathogenesis of perinatal brain damage. Changes in placental vascular resistance, cardiac contractibility, vessel compliance, and blood viscosity alter the normal dynamics of fetal cerebral circulation. The circulatory mechanisms described in animal fetuses also operate in the human fetus.

Three-dimensional sonographic volumetry of the gestational sac and the amniotic sac in the first trimester.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure the volumes of the gestational sac and amniotic sac in normal pregnancies during the first trimester with 3-dimensional sonography to prepare nomograms.

Methods: One hundred fifty-one patients between 6 and 12 weeks' gestation were studied. Nine aborted and were excluded, leaving 142 patients for evaluation.

Fetal weight estimation for prediction of fetal macrosomia: does additional clinical and demographic data using pattern recognition algorithm improve detection?

Objective: The aim of this study was to test whether pattern recognition classifiers with multiple clinical and sonographic variables could improve ultrasound prediction of fetal macrosomia over prediction which relies on the commonly used formulas for the sonographic estimation of fetal weight.

Methods: THE SVM ALGORITHM WAS USED FOR BINARY CLASSIFICATION BETWEEN TWO CATEGORIES OF WEIGHT ESTIMATION: >4000gr and <4000gr. Clinical and sononographic input variables of 100 pregnancies suspected of having LGA fetuses were tested.

Three-dimensional power Doppler in the evaluation of painful leiomyomas and focal uterine thickening in pregnancy.

Objective: To determine the usefulness of 3-dimensional (3D) power Doppler ultrasound in distinguishing painful leiomyomas from focal myometrial contractions or nonpainful leiomyomas in pregnancy.

Methods: A 2D section of the area of interest in the uterine wall was first obtained in 29 patients to determine whether the pain originated from a myoma or a uterine contraction. Then, volume acquisition was activated and Doppler indices (vascularization index, flow index, and vascularization-flow index) were calculated for thickened and normal uterine wall.

Complication of laparoscopic detorsion of adnexal mass.

Detorsion of an ischemic adnexal mass has recently been advocated for most cases of twisted adnexa. Usually, the affected ovary regains some or all of its vitality and function. However, when the ovary is completely necrotic, it may form an abscess if it contains tissue components that cannot be eliminated by the peritoneal immune system.

The use of pulsed-wave Doppler in prenatal diagnosis. An update.

Pulsed wave Doppler ultrasound of fetal vessels confirms the similarity of human fetal circulation to the experimental animal physiology, The result of a multitude of research articles in this field is the clinical use of various components of fetal circulation in perinatal medicine. Umbilical, uterine and fetal cerebral arteries as well as the fetal venous circulation show the potential of Doppler ultrasonography.

Maternal complications associated with multiple cesarean deliveries.

Objective: The claim that a planned repeat cesarean delivery is safer than a trial of labor after cesarean may not be applicable to women who desire larger families. The aim of this study was to assess maternal complications after multiple cesarean deliveries.

Methods: The records of women who underwent two or more planned cesarean deliveries between 2000 and 2005 were reviewed.

Sonographic findings in fetal viral infections: a systematic review.

Unlabelled: Viral infections are a major cause of fetal morbidity and mortality. Transplacental transmission of the virus, even in subclinical maternal infection, may result in a severe congenital syndrome. Prenatal detection of viral infection is based on fetal sonographic findings and polymerase chain reaction to identify the specific infectious agent.

Instability of Doppler cerebral blood flow in monochorionic twins.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate Doppler flow velocity changes in cerebral vessels of monochorionic twins with twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).

Methods: Repeated Doppler umbilical and cerebral blood flow studies were performed in 7 twin pairs with TTTS. Eight monochorionic twin pairs and 11 dichorionic twin pairs served as control groups.

Subendometrial arterial spectral doppler assessment during IVF cycles and its correlation with treatment outcome.

The influence of blood flow impedance in subendometrial arteries on embryo implantation rate was investigated by transvaginal sonographic examination in in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. A total of 39 women undergoing IVF treatment were evaluated along the treatment cycle. Power and spectral Doppler studies of subendometrial arteries were performed to calculate the pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI) and systolic:diastolic ratio (S:D).

E-cadherin endocytosis regulates the activity of Rap1: a traffic light GTPase at the crossroads between cadherin and integrin function.

The coordinate modulation of cadherin and integrin functions plays an essential role in fundamental physiological and pathological processes, including morphogenesis and cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the functional crosstalk between cadherins and integrins are still elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the small GTPase Rap1, a crucial regulator of the inside-out activation of integrins, is a target for E-cadherin-mediated outside-in signaling.

Decidualization of ovarian endometriosis during pregnancy mimicking malignancy.

Objective: The purpose of this series is to present deciduosis (the formation of extrauterine decidua) as one of the differential diagnoses of a malignant tumor during pregnancy.

Methods: Two cases are described in which pregnant patients had a pelvic tumor. The lesions, which were diagnosed in the early second trimester, consisted of complex masses with an extensive blood supply and had a sonographic appearance of a malignant tumor.

Human ether-a-go-go-related gene 1 channels are physically linked to beta1 integrins and modulate adhesion-dependent signaling.

Adhesive receptors of the integrin family are primarily involved in cell-extracellular matrix adhesion. Additionally, integrins trigger multiple signaling pathways that are involved in cell migration, proliferation, survival, and differentiation. We previously demonstrated that the activation of integrins containing the beta(1) subunit leads to a selective increase in potassium currents carried by the human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) channels in neuroblastoma and leukemia cells; this current activation modulates adhesion-dependent differentiation in these cells.