Transmission of Staphylococcus aureus from mothers to newborns.

Background: The study objective was to define the risk factors and the route of Staphylococcus aureus transmission between mother and newborn.

Methods: Women at late pregnancy were screened for nasal and vaginal S. aureus colonization.

Successful pregnancy after unilateral adrenalectomy in a case of primary pigmented adrenocortical disease.

We describe a case of successful pregnancy in a patient with primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease. Unilateral adrenalectomy was performed pre-conception as treatment for the patient's bilateral adrenal disease. She later delivered a healthy infant by cesarean section at week 38 of gestation.

Varix of the fetal intra-abdominal umbilical vein: prenatal sonographic diagnosis and suggested in utero management.

Varix of the fetal intra-abdominal umbilical vein (FIUV) is a rare entity. We describe an ultrasound diagnosis of this condition together with a review of the literature relating to its prognosis and management. Our conclusion is that close fetal monitoring should be performed, and delivery should be induced when lung maturity has been accomplished or any fetal distress is apparent.

Pregnancy and amyloidogenesis: I. Offspring of amyloidotic mice are not predisposed to develop amyloidosis.

Amyloid enhancing factor (AEF) is a substance formed during amyloidogenesis that accelerates amyloid deposition in tissues. The administration of AEF followed by AgNO3 (inflammatory stimulus) to mice results in amyloidosis within 6 days. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the offspring of amyloidotic mice are exposed to maternal AEF during pregnancy and therefore become predisposed to the development of amyloidosis on inflammatory stimulus.

Glyburide crosses the placenta in vivo in pregnant rats.

Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is normally treated by oral hypoglycaemic agents, but their use is excluded during pregnancy because of their potential teratogenic and hypoglycaemic effects on the fetus. This caveat was recently questioned as glyburide was shown to cross an isolated cotyledon in vitro in insignificant amounts. In the present study, placental transport of glyburide in vivo was examined as an indispensable step towards clinical trials.