Amniotic fluid "sludge"; prevalence and clinical significance of it in asymptomatic patients at high risk for spontaneous preterm delivery.

Introduction: The aim of our study is to determine prevalence and clinical significance of the presence of amniotic fluid "sludge" among asymptomatic patients at high-risk for spontaneous preterm delivery, prospectively.

Material And Methods: In our study, 99 patients at high risk for spontaneous preterm delivery were evaluated for the presence of amniotic fluid sludge with transvaginal ultrasonography at 20-22, 26-28, and 32-34 gestational weeks, prospectively; between August 2009 and October 2010 in Hacettepe University Hospital. And, these patients were followed up for their delivery weeks and pregnancy outcomes.

Integration of three-dimensional ultrasonography in the prenatal diagnosis of amniotic band syndrome: A case report.

Amniotic band syndrome is a rare disorder which is thought to be caused by early rupture of the amniotic membrane. The extent of the disease may vary from minor digital amputations to severe lethal anomalies. For many years in routine clinical practice, this syndrome has been diagnosed with two-dimensional ultrasonography.

Prenatal diagnosis and clinicopathologic examination of a case with diastematomyelia.

Diastematomyelia is a rare form of spinal dysraphism. Here the spinal cord was split into two with a bony or cartilaginous spur, resulting in formation of two hemicords. The prenatal diagnosis of diastematomyelia is possible with ultrasonography.

Ultrasonographic measurement of amniochorionic membrane in asymptomatic pregnant women is not a useful tool for preterm birth prediction.

Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of ultrasonographic measurement of amniochorionic membrane thickness (AMT) in the prediction of preterm birth among an asymptomatic pregnant population.

Methods: One hundred and ninety consecutive singleton pregnant women presenting for prenatal care between May 2010 and August 2011 were recruited for the study. AMT of the patients was measured once between 18 and 22 weeks of gestation and then again between 28 and 32 weeks of gestation with transabdominal ultrasound.

Prenatal echocardiographic diagnosis of cardiac right/left axis and malpositions according to standardized Cordes technique.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate distinguishing the right/left side of the fetus, cardiac axis and position according to the standardized Cordes technique in 20 cases with cardiac malposition.

Methods: We studied retrospectively 1536 cases whose fetal echocardiographic examinations were performed between 1999 and 2006 in prenatal cardiology unit. Among these, cardiac malpositions were determined in 20 cases.

Fetal arterial and venous Doppler in growth restricted fetuses for the prediction of perinatal complications.

Fetal arterial and venous Doppler is a useful tool for the monitoring of growth restricted fetuses. Our aim in this study was to compare outcomes when fetuses were grouped according to the combinations of the Doppler results and also according to each vessel Doppler. Deliveries during the period 2002-2008 were reviewed retrospectively and cases with a birth weight less than the 10th percentile were selected for the study.

Perinatal outcomes of fetal abdominal cysts and comparison of prenatal and postnatal diagnoses.

Introduction: The differential diagnosis of an abdominal cyst can be challenging, and an accurate diagnosis is crucial for optimal antenatal management. The aim of this study was to compare the ante- and postnatal diagnoses of cases with abdominal cyst and to determine the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography.

Material And Methods: A database review was performed regarding the diagnosis of fetal abdominal cyst covering the period 2002-2009.

Prenatal diagnosis of Jarcho-Levin syndrome in combination with inguinoscrotal hernia.

Jarcho-Levin syndrome is characterized by short trunk dwarfism associated with rib and vertebral anomalies. The syndrome encompasses a group of disorders with phenotypic and inheritance variations. Here we report a prenatally diagnosed patient with spondylocostal dysostosis (SCD) with accompanying congenital inguinoscrotal hernia.

Perinatal features and umbilical cord blood gases in newborns complicated with nuchal cord.

Presence of nuchal cord (NC) is associated with transient decrease of umbilical cord blood flow. However, the exact perinatal effect of presence of NC in a newborn is still under debate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perinatal complications and umbilical cord blood gases of deliveries complicated with NC and summarize the associated literature.

Endometrial osseous metaplasia: an evolving cause of secondary infertility.

Objective: To present an endometrial osseous metaplasia case and reemphasize that the condition is a cause of secondary infertility.

Design: Case report.

Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in a university hospital in Turkey.

Posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome as a cause of reversible blindness during pregnancy.

Cortical blindness is a rare and dramatic complication of pre-eclampsia. The precise nature of the pathogenesis of this condition has not previously been understood. Three preeclamptic patients with unremarkable previous medical history presented with acute blindness between the 28th and 33rd weeks of pregnancy.

Isolated noncompaction of left ventricular myocardium with fetal sustained bradycardia due to sick sinus syndrome.

Noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium is a rare congenital cardiomyopathy resulting from an arrest in normal endomyocardial embryogenesis. This disease is characterized by numerous and prominent trabeculations and deep intertrabecular recesses. It may be isolated or associated with other congenital heart diseases.

Alcohol injection for the intrauterine treatment of chorioangioma in a pregnancy with transfusion resistant fetal anemia: a case report.

Chorioangiomas are usually small, clinically inevident, benign vascular lesions of the placenta, but larger ones may cause serious perinatal and neonatal complications. There is need for in utero intervention in these fetuses. Several interventions are described to relieve pathophysiologic insult on fetus.

Perinatal outcomes of spontaneous twins compared with twins conceived through intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Objective: To compare perinatal outcomes in spontaneous twins compared with those conceived by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Patients: Cases consisted of 274 intracytoplasmic sperm injection twins, controls were 348 naturally conceived twins delivered between 1999 and 2003 in a tertiary hospital.

Prenatal echocardiographic diagnosis of congenital heart disease: comparison of past and current results.

The increased experience in interpretation of fetal echocardiographic images may change the accuracy of fetal echocardiography in diagnosing fetal heart defects. We thus decided to evaluate the specificity and the sensitivity of our fetal echocardiographic examinations in diagnosing congenital heart disease, focusing especially on the outcome of complex cardiac pathologies. Between October 1999 and July 2003, 642 fetuses were followed until birth and underwent a postnatal reassessment of the cardiovascular system in our institution.

Is Dandy-Walker malformation associated with "distal 13q deletion syndrome"? Findings in a fetus supporting previous observations.

We report on a fetus with a large deletion of the distal part of the long arm of chromosome 13, (del(13)(q14 --> qter)) congenital anomalies of the urinary system, lungs and extremities, and Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM). Although DWM has been associated with many chromosomal abnormalities and genetic syndromes, its relation to the distal 13q has been demonstrated recently. In 2002, McCormack et al.

Placental apoptosis in pregnancies with intrauterine meconium passage.

In this study we investigated the presence of placental apoptosis in pregnancies with intrauterine meconium passage. Placental tissue samples at term were obtained from 15 normal and 15 pregnancies with intrauterine meconium passage. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling method was applied to confirm apoptosis in all placental samples.

Results and lessons learned from a small medical abortion clinical study in Turkey.

This article presents results from a small, introductory clinical study offering a simplified regimen medical abortion to women in Turkey. A total of 208 women from five sites were recruited from July 2000 through March 2001. All eligible consenting women were given 200 mg oral mifepristone at the clinic followed by 400 microg oral misoprostol 2 days later either at home or at the clinic.

Bilateral ovarian fibromatosis presenting with ascites and hirsutism.

Background: Ovarian fibromatosis is a very rare nonneoplastic disease. Due to the rarity and atypical clinical presentations, they may give rise to a misdiagnosis of malignancy and unnecessary extensive surgical interventions. Literature lacks definitive data about this rare disease and its preoperative evaluations.

Prenatal diagnosis of Cantrell's pentalogy: a case report.

A 23 year-old nulliparous woman was admitted to the obstetrics clinic in the 12th week of her pregnancy. Following the first trimester scanning, the fetus was diagnosed as having a large omphalocele and ectopia cordis. It was thought to be a thoracoabdominal wall defect and a possible case of Cantrell's pentalogy.

Placental microcirculation of intrauterine growth retarded fetuses: scanning electron microscopy of placental vascular casts.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the ultra structural difference of placentas in IUGR fetuses that were all found to have abnormal umbilical artery Doppler waveforms.

Methods: Nine placentas from 7 IUGR fetuses and 2 from healthy normal fetuses were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy.

Results: All of the placentas of IUGR fetuses who had abnormal umbilical artery Doppler flow antenatally were found to have a prominent increase in the amount of total blood vessels; these aberrant blood vessels had a very tortuous course and they showed increased branching when compared with placentas from uncomplicated term pregnancies.

Circulating biomarkers of oxidative stress in complicated pregnancies.

Increased lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reduced antioxidant activity may contribute to the development of complications in pregnancy. The present study discusses the possibility of LPO and antioxidant activity in both maternal and umbilical cord blood as an indicator of oxygen radical activity. For this aim, pregnancies with hypertension and pre-eclampsia, diabetes mellitus (insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and gestational diabetes mellitus), oligohydramnios and abruptio placentae, as well as a healthy control group, were subjected in the present study.