Psychometric properties of a revised Danish translation of the international outcome inventory for hearing aids (IOI-HA).

Objective: The original Danish translation of the international outcome inventory for hearing aids (IOI-HA) proved problematic as the wording of item 5 was not semantically clear, rendering the questionnaire internally inconsistent. The objective of this study was to examine data collected with a revised Danish translation of the IOI-HA in order to: (1) evaluate the effect of the revision, and (2) to examine if the psychometric properties of the revised translation of the IOI-HA are equivalent to those of previously validated translations.

Design: Psychometric properties were evaluated performing inter-item correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and item-total correlation.

A randomized trial of the effects of dietary counseling on gestational weight gain and glucose metabolism in obese pregnant women.

Objective: Can gestational weight gain in obese women be restricted by 10-h dietary consultations and does this restriction impact the pregnancy-induced changes in glucose metabolism?

Design: A randomized controlled trial with or without restriction of gestational weight gain to 6-7 kg by ten 1-h dietary consultations.

Subjects: Fifty nondiabetic nonsmoking Caucasian obese pregnant women were randomized into intervention group (n=23, 28+/-4 years, prepregnant body mass index (BMI) 35+/-4 kg m(-2)) or control group (n=27, 30+/-5 years, prepregnant BMI 35+/-3 kg m(-2)).

Measurements: The weight development was measured at inclusion (15 weeks), at 27 weeks, and 36 weeks of gestation.

Danish obstetricians' personal preference and general attitude to elective cesarean section on maternal request: a nation-wide postal survey.

Objective: To assess Danish obstetricians' and gynecologists' personal preference and general attitude towards elective cesarean section on maternal request in uncomplicated single cephalic pregnancies at term.

Design: Nation-wide anonymous postal questionnaire.

Population: Four hundred and fifty-five obstetricians and gynecologists identified in the records of the Danish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology from January 2000.

A longitudinal study of intrauterine growth and the placental growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor I axis in maternal circulation: association between placental GH and fetal growth.

The aim of the study was 1) to evaluate the association of maternal serum levels of placental GH and IGF-I with fetal growth, and 2) to establish reference data for placental GH, IGF-I, and IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in normal pregnancies based on longitudinal measurements. A prospective longitudinal study of 89 normal pregnant women was conducted. The women had, on the average, seven blood samples taken and three ultrasound examinations performed.

Umbilical artery Doppler flow-velocity waveforms in Rhesus-isoimmunized fetuses before and after fetal blood sampling or transfusion.

Pulsed-Doppler examinations of blood-flow velocities in the umbilical artery were carried out before and after 15 diagnostic cordocenteses and 34 fetal blood transfusions into the umbilical vein. There were decreases in the systolic/diastolic ratio (A/B) (p < 0.01), the pulsatility index (PI) (p < 0.

Umbilical artery Doppler flow-velocity waveforms and fetal acid-base balance in Rhesus-isoimmunized pregnancies.

Pulsed Doppler blood-flow velocity waveforms in the umbilical arteries, as well as blood gases, hematocrit, and lactate concentration in umbilical venous blood, were examined in 21 patients undergoing 49 cordocentesis, 34 of which were followed by fetal blood transfusion into the umbilical vein. The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlations, if any, between the Doppler indices from the umbilical artery (pulsatility index, resistance index, systolic/diastolic ratio) and the blood gas values (pO2, pCO2, O2 content, pH) and lactate content in the umbilical vein. The only correlation confirmed in this study was in the subgroup of anemic fetuses undergoing fetal blood transfusion, where correlation existed between A/B and the initial O2 content (r = -0.

Prediction of mode of delivery and 'DisFIL score' following induction of labor by local PGE2.

The objective of the study was to evaluate pre-induction risk factors for (i) assisted vaginal delivery (forceps or vacuum extraction), (ii) caesarean section, (iii) failed induction followed by caesarean section, and from these to evaluate a score of the 'Disadvantages Following Induction of Labour' (the DisFIL score). The study was a case-control study applied on a prospective cohort of 336 pregnant women induced by local PGE2. Assisted vaginal delivery was associated with primiparity (OR (odds ratio) = 10.

[The antiprogesterone preparation mifepristone (RU 486). Should this "abortion pill" be introduced in Denmark?].

The antiprogesterone mifepristone (RU 486) was synthesized in 1980 by Roussel-Uclaf (Paris). Since 1982 several studies have examined the ability of the drug to interrupt early pregnancies. 600 mg of mifepristone given by mouth to pregnant women with an amenorrhea of less than 50 days will lead to vaginal bleeding in more than 97% of the cases.

Hypoxanthine in fetal umbilical venous blood and amniotic fluid from pregnancies complicated by rhesus isoimmunization.

Concentrations of hypoxanthine (HX) was determined in umbilical venous blood and amniotic fluid obtained at 74 instances in 36 rhesus immunized patients before the onset of labor. HX concentrations were related to gestational age, concentrations of hemoglobin and lactate, pH, and partial oxygen pressure in umbilical venous blood. Multiple regression analysis revealed hemoglobin concentration to be the only variable that had any explanatory power to HX in amniotic fluid.

Placenta previa-percreta: magnetic resonance imaging findings and methotrexate therapy after hysterectomy.

A case is reported of a 42-year-old woman with placenta previa-percreta and multiple previous cesarean sections. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging findings are described. Management included a cesarean supracervical hysterectomy, bilateral hypogastric arterial ligation, and intraoperative methotrexate administration.

Erythropoietin concentrations in amniotic fluid and umbilical venous blood from Rh-immunized pregnancies.

We set out to investigate prospectively the levels of erythropoietin in amniotic fluid and umbilical venous blood, and to attempt to relate these to fetal haemoglobin and lactate concentrations and to pCO2 and PO2 in Rh immunised patients studied before the onset of labor. Fetal blood was obtained by cordocentesis, and amniotic fluid by amniocentesis from a consecutive series of 36 Rh immunized patients at the time of fetal blood sampling. There was a close correlation (tau = 0.

Predictive value of pelvic scores for induction of labor by local PGE2.

The predictive value of pelvic scores, parity, age and gestational age for induction of labor by local prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2) was examined in 336 women attempting induction of labor by intracervical or vaginal PGE2. The patient characteristics were correlated to: (1) vaginal delivery within 48 h, (2) the period from induction to onset of labor (latency period), and (3) the duration of labor. The Bishop score (P < 0.

Lack of relation between fetal blood gases and fetal blood flow velocity waveform indices found in rhesus isoimmunised pregnancies.

Objective: To investigate the relation between umbilical vein blood gas components and the vascular resistance in four fetal arteries in Rh-immunised pregnancies.

Design: A prospective observational study over a 4-month period.

Setting: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Inhomogeneous broadening and kinetic carbon monoxide isotope effects in low-temperature carbon monoxide recombination with myoglobin and hemoglobin.

We have analyzed the non-exponential kinetics, the temperature variation, and the CO isotope effects of the CO recombination reactions with myoglobin and single-chain hemoglobin. The analysis rests on multiphonon quantum-mechanical chemical-rate theory combined with static inhomogeneous broadening of either the reorganization free energy or the reaction Gibbs free energy. The simplest specific model which can account for all the data contains an inhomogeneous distribution function of width 0.

Intramural pregnancy after in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.

A case of intramural but not interstitial pregnancy, established after IVF/ET, is described. The etiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of this clinical dilemma are discussed.

Mifepristone or vacuum aspiration in termination of early pregnancy.

This trial compared the termination of early pregnancy (amenorrhoea less than 43 days) by 600 mg orally of the antiprogesteron Mifepristone to the traditional method of vacuum aspiration. Fifty women were randomly assigned to either of the treatments. All the patients treated with vacuum aspiration had a complete abortion.

Myocardial contractility in the anemic human fetus.

Severely anemic fetuses in Rh-isoimmunized pregnancies are often found to have hydrops and the etiology is debated. Fifteen fetal blood samplings were performed in nine fetuses for determination of the degree of anemia and of the acid-base balance. Waveform analysis was performed on the maximum blood velocity curve in the umbilical arteries and the ascending fetal aorta, obtained by means of a pulsed Doppler technique.

Induction of labour: the effect of vaginal prostaglandin or i.v. oxytocin--a matter of time only?

Ninety-one pregnant women with unfavourable cervix (Bishop score no higher than 6) were randomly allocated to induction of labour with either prostaglandin E2 suppositories 2.5 mg 1-2 a day or i.v.

Doppler blood velocity waveforms and the relation to peripheral resistance in the brachial artery.

The relationship between peripheral resistance and the Doppler blood velocity indices--pulsatility index (PI), A/B ratio, resistance index (RI), and the minimum velocity (Vmin)--was evaluated in the brachial arteries of five young women. All the indices showed a very good correlation with resistance (r greater than 94%); the regression line for both PI and A/B were linear, whereas the relationships between resistance and RI, and resistance and Vmin, were best described by a logarithmic and by power function, respectively. Although the women were carefully selected to be as alike as possible, there were significant differences in the individual slopes of the regression lines.

Characteristics of Doppler blood-velocity waveforms in a cardiovascular in vitro model. II. The influence of peripheral resistance, perfusion pressure and blood flow.

A cardiovascular in vitro model was used to examine the influence of peripheral resistance on the Doppler blood-velocity waveforms. In the study the velocity indices were determined as a function of peripheral resistance either with the flow kept constant (the perfusion pressure varied) or with the pressure constant (the flow varied). The peak velocity (Vpeak) is normally accepted as a simple expression of the stroke volume.

Characteristics of Doppler blood-velocity waveforms in a cardiovascular in vitro model. I. The model and the influence of pulse rate.

In order to study the indices describing the flow-velocity curves a cardiovascular in vitro model has been constructed. The model consists of two parts: (i) A heart simulator producing controllable cardiac output, pulse rate and pressure variations, (ii) a circulatory system made of elastic butyl rubber tubes with adjustable peripheral resistance bed. The flow-velocity curves were obtained by a Doppler velocity meter as a function of the pulse rate (PR) when pressure, volumetric flow, and peripheral resistances were constant.

Lamicel does not promote induction of labour. A randomized controlled study.

Lamicel is a synthetic tent, which, when inserted in the cervical canal, dilates the cervix by osmosis. Lamicel as an adjunct to induction of labour with intravenous oxytocin or vaginal prostaglandin E2 has been examined in a randomized controlled trial. Ninety-one pregnant women with an unripe cervix participated in the study.