Physical and psychological recovery after vaginal childbirth with and without epidural analgesia: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Enhanced recovery is the gold standard in modern perioperative management, including that for cesarean deliveries. However, qualitative and quantitative data on the physical and psychological recovery of women after vaginal childbirth are limited. Whether neuraxial labor analgesia influences postpartum recovery is unknown.

The perinatal outcomes by gestational weight gain range at 30 weeks of gestation among pre-pregnancy underweight women.

Aims: To evaluate the perinatal outcomes by gestational weight gain (GWG) range at 30 weeks of gestation among underweight pregnant women (pre-pregnancy body mass index ≤ 18.5 kg/m ) in Japan.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at a hospital in Japan from 2003 to 2020.

Single-cell and bulk ICP-MS investigation of accumulation patterns of Pt-based metallodrugs in cisplatin-sensitive and -resistant cell models.

In research enabling preclinical development and attaining a deeper understanding of the behavior of metallodrugs in cancer cells with acquired resistance, intracellular Pt accumulation could be considered an important biomarker and analytical focus. In this work, Pt accumulation patterns in terms of the number of cells and Pt mass in single cells were precisely defined by using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) operating in a fast time-resolved analysis mode. This technique is otherwise known as single-cell (SC)-ICP-MS.

Velamentous cord insertion ruptured during labour leading to acute fetal blood loss.

Umbilical cord rupture (UCR) in utero is a very rare and critical emergency that can cause fetal death within minutes. A 38-year-old nulliparous woman was admitted at 39 weeks in labour. Sudden watery vaginal discharge and bleeding with a rapid drop in the fetal heart rate to 60 beats/min necessitated an emergency caesarean section.

Prehypertension in early pregnancy is a risk factor for hypertensive disorders during pregnancy: A historical cohort study in Japan.

: We evaluated the association between pre-hypertension (120-139 or 80-89 mmHg) in early pregnancy, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), and perinatal adverse outcomes. : We included 14,066 pregnant women, treated between 2003 and 2019 in Japan. Based on a blood pressure chart review recorded before 20 weeks of gestation, we stratified participants into the prehypertension (n = 3,806) and normotensive (n = 10,260) groups.

Simultaneous Analysis of Iodine and Bromine Species in Infant Formula using HPLC-ICP-MS.

A fast and sensitive method for the simultaneous analysis of iodine and bromine species in infant formula was developed using HPLC-inductively coupled plasma-MS (HPLC-ICP-MS). To determine the four halogen species [iodide (I), iodate , bromide (Br), and bromate ] in a milk-based Standard Reference Material and four commercially available infant formula products. The four halogen species were baseline separated in less than 6.

Enhanced Universal Quantification of Biomolecules Using Element MS and Generic Standards: Application to Intact Protein and Phosphoprotein Determination.

Tools that provide absolute quantification of biomolecules, particularly of proteins and their post-translational modifications, without needing suitable specific standards, are urgently demanded nowadays. To this end, we have significantly improved the recently introduced strategy based on CH addition to the plasma for absolute quantification of biomolecules using HPLC-ICP-MS. Addition of CO has been optimized and finally selected as a safer, more efficient quantitative strategy that is able to provide constant (<6% error) signal response factor for the six elements assayed (S, P, As, Se, Br, I) under compromised conditions.

Sudden onset of pheochromocytoma multisystem crisis at 38 weeks of gestation resulted in intrauterine fetal death: A case report.

A 24-year-old woman at 38 weeks of gestation with no past medical history was transferred to our hospital because of acute onset of severe dyspnea. Her conscious level was E4V2M5 on the Glasgow Coma Scale and she displayed stress cardiomyopathy (Takotsubo cardiomyopathy) with multiple organ failure. Intrauterine fetal death was confirmed.

Risk factors of infant anemia in the perinatal period.

Background: Infants are at particular risk of iron-deficiency anemia. We investigated changes in the blood count of the mother and infant as well as the relationship between them and the relationship between infant nutrition method and infant anemia.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included healthy neonates born between August 2011 and July 2014 at St Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.

Bent bone dysplasia (BBD)-FGFR2 type: the radiologic manifestations in early gestation.

Bent bone dysplasia-fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 type (BBD-FGFR2) is a recently identified skeletal dysplasia caused by specific FGFR2 mutations, characterized by craniosynostosis and prenatal bowing of the long bones. Only a few cases have been published. We report an affected fetus terminated at 21 weeks of gestation.

Fetal outcome of trisomy 18 diagnosed after 22 weeks of gestation: Experience of 123 cases at a single perinatal center.

To investigate the pregnancy outcome of the fetuses with trisomy 18, we studied 123 cases of trisomy 18 who were born at our hospital from 1993 to 2009. Among them, 95.9% were diagnosed with trisomy 18 prenatally.

Correlation between umbilical cord hemoglobin and rate of jaundice requiring phototherapy in healthy newborns.

Background: Delay of umbilical cord clamping by at least 1 min is recommended for newborns not requiring resuscitation in the International Liaison Committee On Resuscitation-Consensus on Science with Treatment Recommendations (ILCOR-CoSTR) 2010 guidelines. The delay in clamping improves iron status through early infancy but may increase the likelihood of jaundice requiring phototherapy. The present study investigated the relationship between umbilical cord hemoglobin and the rate of jaundice requiring phototherapy in healthy Japanese newborns.

Familial severe congenital diaphragmatic hernia: left herniation in one sibling and bilateral herniation in another.

Familial congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is extremely rare; it comprises about 2% of all CDH cases. The empirical risk is about 2%, increasing to 10% in a family with two affected children. This report describes severe CDH in two siblings who had been diagnosed prenatally.

Hepatoblastoma in an infant with paternal uniparental disomy 14.

A 29-year-old primigravida developed polyhydramnios at 24 weeks of gestation, requiring six serial amnioreductions. In addition, prenatal ultrasound examinations revealed a fetus with small stomach pouch, small thorax, slightly shortened limbs, and skin edema; paternal uniparental disomy 14(upd(14)pat) phenotype was suspected. At 37 weeks, the patient delivered a 2558 g female infant with characteristic facial features, webbed neck, thoracic deformity, abdominal wall defect, skin edema, overlapping fingers, placentomegaly, and small thorax with 'coat-hanger' appearance of the ribs on chest X-ray.

Paternal uniparental disomy 14 and related disorders: placental gene expression analyses and histological examinations.

Although recent studies in patients with paternal uniparental disomy 14 [upd(14)pat] and other conditions affecting the chromosome 14q32.2 imprinted region have successfully identified underlying epigenetic factors involved in the development of upd(14)pat phenotype, several matters, including regulatory mechanism(s) for RTL1 expression, imprinting status of DIO3 and placental histological characteristics, remain to be elucidated. We therefore performed molecular studies using fresh placental samples from two patients with upd(14)pat.

Sirenomelia with a de novo balanced translocation 46,X,t(X;16)(p11.23;p12.3).

We report a female fetus with sirenomelia with 46,X,t(X;16)(p11.23;p12.3) de novo.

Spastic quadriplegia in Down syndrome with congenital duodenal stenosis/atresia.

Down syndrome is an autosomal chromosome disorder, characterized by intellectual disability and muscle hypotonia. Muscle hypotonia is observed from neonates to adulthood in Down syndrome patients, but muscle hypertonicity is extremely unusual in this syndrome. During a study period of nine years, we found three patients with severe spastic quadriplegia among 20 cases with Down syndrome and congenital duodenal stenosis/atresia (3/20).

Congenital omphalocele and polyhydramnios: a study of 52 cases.

Introduction: Unlike gastroschisis, congenital omphalocele is often associated with other anomalies and is frequently complicated by polyhydramnios. We examined the relationships between polyhydramnios, pregnancy outcome and fetal prognosis.

Patients And Methods: Clinical data from cases diagnosed antenatally with congenital omphalocele from 1993 to 2006 were analyzed retrospectively.

Prenatal management of the fetus with lethal malformation: from a study of oligohydramnios sequence.

47 cases of oligohydramnios sequence (OS) diagnosed at Kanagawa Children's Medical Center from 1992 to 2008 were studied retrospectively. Early termination of pregnancy was chosen in 9 cases, observed natural labor was chosen in 23 cases, and 18 cases resulted in natural deliveries. Fetal demise occurred during labor in 44.

Analysis of birth-related medical malpractice litigation cases in Japan: review and discussion towards implementation of a no-fault compensation system.

Aim: We examined birth-related malpractice civil litigation cases in Japan to clarify the actual status related to the implementation of an obstetrical no-fault compensation system in 2009.

Material & Methods: In this retrospective review, we analyzed legal and medical information from 64 cases with a delivery date after 1987 and a judgment date between April 1997 and March 2007.

Results: The malpractice claim was accepted in 44 cases and rejected in 20 cases.