Maternal serum screening for Down syndrome in the United States: a 1995 survey.

Objective: Our goal was to determine the status of prenatal Down syndrome screening in the United States in 1995.

Study Design: Information was sought via questionnaire from laboratories participating in external proficiency testing.

Results: Services were provided to 2,498,000 women annually by 265 screening laboratories.

Molecular relatedness of Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates obtained during a platelet transfusion-associated episode of sepsis.

Staphylococcus epidermidis was isolated from the blood of a 25-year-old pregnant woman following the administration of eight units of platelets. She had developed chills and a fever of 41.4 degrees C soon after the transfusions were completed.

Laboratory evaluation of hyper- and hypoglycemic states.

Appropriate use of test strategies requires not only an appreciation of analytic considerations and the ability of the tests to confirm or exclude the hypotheses, but also an understanding of the underlying pathophysiology and clinical features of the problems to be addressed. This discussion covers disease definition, pathophysiology, analytic considerations, and strategies for diagnosis and management.

Delayed pulmonary phosphatidylglycerol synthesis and reversal by prenatal dexamethasone in fetal rats of streptozotocin-diabetic mothers.

Lung slices from fetal rats of streptozotocin-diabetic mothers incorporated [3H]glycerol and [3H]choline into phosphatidylglycerol and disaturated phosphatidylcholine, respectively. When compared to age-matched fetuses from nondiabetic mothers, lung phosphatidylglycerol synthesis of 21-day fetuses of diabetic mothers was significantly diminished, although [3H]glycerol incorporation into other phospholipids was not impaired. Synthesis of disaturated phosphatidylcholine was not diminished in lungs of 20-, 21-, or 22-day fetuses of diabetic mothers.