Antenatal sonographic diagnosis of dacryocystocele.

Dacryocystocele is an uncommon condition presenting at birth as a bluish swelling approximately 1 cm in diameter located below and nasal to the medial canthus. It represents a cystic swelling of the lacrimal sac due to obstruction of the lacrimal drainage system both above and below the sac. The average age when the lacrimal duct becomes patent is the eighth intrauterine month.

Elevated serum group II phospholipase A2 levels are associated with decreased blood flow velocity in the umbilical artery.

Twenty-two hospitalized patients, diagnosed as having hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, were selected from two University Clinics. Maternal serum samples were analyzed for serum group II phospholipase A2 (PLA2-II) by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay. At the same time, umbilical artery blood flow velocities were measured with color Doppler sonography for orientation and pulsatile Doppler sonography for recording waveforms.

Group I and group II phospholipase A2 in serum during normal and pathological pregnancy.

Phospholipase A2 groups I (pancreatic) and II (synovial) could be a link between local and systemic changes in pregnancy, reflected in catalytic activity. We studied whether normal pregnancy, preeclampsia, preterm labor and four other diseases have processes involving serum phospholipase A2s. Pancreatic and synovial-type phospholipase A2 were measured in the serum of 59 normal pregnant women and 89 patients with pathological pregnancy by newly developed time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays, and the catalytic activity by a radiochemical method using micellar phosphatidylcholine as substrate.

Transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasonography in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy: a comparative study.

Thirty-four patients believed to have ectopic pregnancies were examined by transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasonography. Twenty-five patients had tubal pregnancy confirmed operatively within 24 hours after ultrasonographic examination. In these cases adnexal findings highly suspicious for ectopic pregnancy were found in 68% of cases by transabdominal ultrasonography and in 84% by transvaginal ultrasonography.

Combined pregnancy: how common is it?

Three cases of combined intrauterine and ectopic pregnancy, treated in the same hospital over a 39-day period, are presented. This condition has been acknowledged to be a rare phenomenon with delayed diagnosis and treatment. Two of the cases were diagnosed by ultrasound upon arrival at the hospital, and all three were treated within 24 h of arrival.

Effect of third-trimester premature rupture of membranes on fetal breathing movements: a prospective case-control study.

Fetal breathing movements were examined in 44 women with premature rupture of membranes. All had previously uncomplicated singleton pregnancies (28 to 41 weeks). Of these 44 women, 13 had complications based on later amnionitis/neonatal infection or antepartum fetal distress.

Angiographic arterial embolization to control hemorrhage in abdominal pregnancy: a case report.

A case is described in which heavy postoperative bleeding from the placental bed after removal of the fetus in an abdominal pregnancy was managed by selective arterial embolization of the placental vascular bed. Selective angiographic embolization is a useful tool in both obstetric and gynecologic complications when hemorrhage fails to respond to other modes of therapy.

Sulprostone in the control of postpartum haemorrhage.

A PGE2 analogue, Sulprostone was administered to control the postpartum haemorrhage, immediately after the baby was born, to 74 healthy patients, who had normal pregnancy and delivery. Divided into three groups they received 50 or 100 micrograms intravenously, or 200 micrograms intramuscularly. The results were compared with those of a group of 54 patients, which received 0.

Norethisterone acetate and ethinylestradiol in early human pregnancy.

In a double-blind randomized trial, 25 women (8-9 weeks pregnant) received 20 mg norethisterone acetate (NET-AC) and 0.04 mg ethinylestradiol (EE2), 25 women receiving placebo. The patients were followed by ultrasound and the products at curettage studied macroscopically and microscopically.

Problems and benefits in early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy.

A 5-yr retrospective study is presented of 168 consecutive patients operated on for ectopic pregnancy during 1977-1981, showing the prevalent features and trends of this disorder and its diagnosis. The overall incidence was 1.48% of deliveries, with a range of 1.

The incompetent cervix during pregnancy diagnosed by ultrasound.

Ninety-one pregnant patients in mid-trimester were examined for suspected cervical incompetence using ultrasound. This diagnosis means that detached membranes at the internal os are bulging into a dilated cervical canal. In 13 cases cervical dilatation was found.

"Menstrual induction" with Sulproston.

The PGE2-analogue Sulproston (16-phenoxy-omega-17,18,19,20-tetranor-PGE2-mythylsulfonylamide) was administered to 200 medically and gynecologically normal women who were 17 +/- 0.4 days beyond their expected menstrual period and who had a positive pregnancy test. The intramuscular impact dose (500 micrograms repeated after 4 hours) caused an immediate tonic uterine contraction which compromised the estradiol 17 beta, progesterone and chorionic gonadotropin production within the fetoplacental unit, and thereby allowed the evolution of cyclic uterine activity, cervical dilatation and tissue expulsion.

Abortion with sulprostone, a prostaglandin E2 derivative.

Sulprostone, a prostaglandin E2 derivative, was used in a multicenter trial to terminate 478 pregnancies of 8-21 weeks' gestation. The compound was clinically well accepted without premedication in extraovular, intravenous and intramuscular routes of administration. At 24 hours after treatment, 67%-88% of the patients had aborted, with a low average incidence of side effects.

The effect of systematic treatment of toxaemia of pregnancy upon fetal prognosis.

Systematic therapy for pre-eclampsia including diuretics was investigated in 604 patients in whom therapy was begun immediately the first symptoms appeared and continued until delivery. The control group consisted of 368 patients with toxemia from the two previous years who received no systematic therapy but who also underwent delivery at either the Turku City Maternity Hospital or the Women's Clinic of Turku University Central Hospital. Cases of pre-eclampsia gravis were significantly reduced (2.