Fetal magnetic resonance imaging in the confirmation of congenital anomalies found on routine mid-trimester ultrasound.

Objective: To determine the added value of fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when clarifying a suspected anomaly detected by mid-trimester scan.

Methods: Women attending two centers of fetal medicine between January 2017 and December 2021 were identified. The centers carried out routine mid-trimester ultrasound scans to detect fetal anomalies.

Antenatal screening for thyroid dysfunction: pre-term birth, low birth-weight, and growth restriction.

Objective: To assess pre-term birth, low birth-weight and growth restriction according to maternal thyroid screening results and subsequent treatment.

Methods: This is a nonintervention nested case-control study derived from 10,052 asymptomatic women previously screened during the first trimester marker with anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies, serum thyroid stimulating hormone, and free thyroxine. Screening results had been classified as positive with one or more markers outside the normal range and referred to an endocrinologist.

The prevalence of maternal hypothyroidism in first trimester screening from 11 to 14 weeks of gestation.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of maternal hypothyroidism in the first trimester from 11 to 14 weeks of gestation according to the American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines from 2017 and to compare the rates for singleton and twin pregnancies.

Methods: A total of 4965 consecutive Caucasian singleton pregnancies and 109 Caucasian twin pregnancies were included in the investigation. Patients with a history of thyroid gland disorder were excluded.

Maternal thyroid-stimulating hormone reference ranges for first trimester screening from 11 to 14 weeks of gestation.

Background: To establish maternal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) reference ranges for first trimester screening from 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks of gestation.

Methods: A total of 10 592 singleton and 201 twin consecutive Caucasian pregnant women who underwent simultaneously prenatal first trimester Down's syndrome screening and thyroid function screening from January 2010 to November 2017 were included in the study. Women with positive antithyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) and positive personal history of thyroid disease were previously excluded.

Incorporating thyroid markers in Down syndrome screening protocols.

Objective: The article aimed to assess the benefit of incorporating maternal serum thyroid disease marker levels (thyroid-stimulating hormone and free thyroxine) into first trimester Down syndrome screening protocols.

Methods: Statistical modelling was used to predict performance with and without the thyroid markers. Two protocols were considered: the combined test and the contingent cell-free DNA (cfDNA) test, where 15-40% women are selected for cfDNA because of increased risk based on combined test results.

Clinical Potential of Effective Noninvasive Exclusion of KEL1-Positive Fetuses in KEL1-Negative Pregnant Women.

Background: The clinical importance of assessing the fetal KEL genotype is to exclude 'K'-positive fetuses (genotype KEL1/KEL2) in 'K'-alloimmunized pregnant women (genotype KEL2/KEL2). Noninvasive assessment of the fetal KEL genotype is not yet available in the Czech Republic.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the fetal KEL1/KEL2 genotype from cell-free fetal DNA in the plasma of KEL2/KEL2 pregnant women.

Azurocidin levels in maternal serum in the first trimester can predict preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Objective: To determine the possible association between azurocidin in maternal serum in the first trimester of pregnancy and subsequent spontaneous preterm labor, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes, and iatrogenic preterm delivery.

Methods: Women who underwent first trimester screening for chromosomal abnormalities between January and November 2011 were included in the study, and a sample of maternal serum was obtained. In total, 1905 women were followed-up through the local record system, and 13 women with spontaneous preterm labor, 17 women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM), and 16 women with iatrogenic preterm delivery were identified.

Refined fluorescent STR quantification of cell-free fetal DNA during pregnancy in physiological and Down syndrome fetuses.

Background: Cell-free fetal (cff) DNA analysis by short tandem repeats (STR) has the advantage of better recognizing the different genotypes. However, quantitative examination by quantitative fluorescent (QF) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by STRs is limited to only a rough approximation. This project focuses on a more precise calculation of the relative cff DNA amount tested in the STRs' loci.

Uterine rupture during pregnancy and delivery among women attending the Al-Tthawra Hospital in Sana'a City Yemen Republic.

Background: About 20 percent of the population in developing countries is composed of women of reproductive age. These women face one of the catastrophic risks of pregnancy "uterine rupture". Studies conducted in the developing world give strong evidence that uterine rupture is a major health problem in these countries with the rate being high in rural areas.

Screening for chromosomal anomalies in the first trimester: a report on the first year of prospective screening for chromosomal anomalies in the first trimester in the Czech Republic.

Background: The increase in maternal age in recent years has intensified the effort to develop early non-invasive methods for screening for trisomy 21 and other chromosomal abnormalities in prenatal diagnosis. In the first trimester of pregnancy, maternal age, fetal nuchal translucency (NT), maternal levels of free beta- human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) are used as screening markers. We evaluated the introduction of this method of screening for the first time in the Czech Republic.

Single umbilical artery and its siding in the second trimester of pregnancy: relation to chromosomal defects.

Objectives: To determine the possible association between single umbilical artery (SUA) in the second trimester of pregnancy and the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities. To determine whether the presence of chromosomal defects in fetuses with SUA is related to the side of the missing artery.

Methods: Color flow imaging of the fetal pelvis was used to determine the number of umbilical arteries in 2147 fetuses immediately before amniocentesis for karyotyping in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Fetal enterolithiasis: prenatal sonographic and MRI diagnosis in two cases of urorectal septum malformation (URSM) sequence.

Objectives: Enterolithiasis (multiple calcifications of intraluminal meconium) is a rare, prenatal ultrasonographic finding. In this study, our aim was to evaluate the prenatal diagnostic features and discuss the management of the patients.

Methods: The data of two cases of prenatally diagnosed fetal enterolithiasis were collected from ultrasound scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neonatal or postnatal autopsy records.

Khat habit and its health effect. A natural amphetamine.

Chewing the leaves of the khat shrub is common in certain countries of East Africa and Arabian Peninsula mainly Yemen. It has been established that a khat plant leaves contain an active psycho-stimulant substance known as cathinone that is similar in structure and pharmacological activity to amphetamine in affecting the CNS. Intoxication with khat is self-limiting but chronic consumption can cause certain health disturbances in the user and also lead to social and economic damage to the individual and the community.