Impact and Problems of Fetal Echocardiography: A Single-Institution Study in Japan.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the current status of prenatal diagnosis and the benefit of fetal echocardiography for complex congenital heart disease (CHD) in Kagawa prefecture.

Method: We reviewed 152 cases of CHDs who were born between 2012 and 2020 and performed cardiovascular surgery or catheter intervention in our hospital. They were divided into two groups: the fetal diagnosis group (FD) and the no-fetal diagnosis group (nFD).

Prenatal Diagnosis of Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava Raises Suspicion for Coarctation of Aorta.

A pregnant woman was referred to our hospital with a persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) and a slightly smaller left heart at 35 weeks of gestation. Fetal echocardiography revealed a small aortic valve and a slightly narrow aortic isthmus. A PLSVC was identified in the dilated coronary sinus.

A unique TBX5 microdeletion with microinsertion detected in patient with Holt-Oram syndrome.

Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS) is an autosomal dominant condition characterized by upper limb and congenital heart defects and caused by numerous germline mutations of TBX5 producing preterminal stop codons. Here, we report on a novel and unusual heterozygous TBX5 microdeletion with microinsertion (microindel) mutation (c.627delinsGTGACTCAGGAAACGCTTTCCTGA), which is predicted to synthesize a truncated TBX5 protein, detected in a sporadic patient with clinical features of HOS prenatally diagnosed by ultrasonography.

A case of pregnancy complicated with congenital dysprothrombinemia (prothrombin Tokushima).

We present the course of pregnancy and delivery in a patient with congenital dysprothrombinemia. The patient is a 29-year-old nulliparous woman. She was diagnosed with dysprothrombinemia at 10 years of ag.

A case of fetal parvovirus b19 myocarditis that caused terminal heart failure.

Parvovirus B19 is a well-established cause of fetal anemia and nonimmune fetal hydrops in pregnancy. Fetal parvovirus infection can cause severe destruction of erythroid progenitor cells, resulting in fetal anemia, hydrops, and intrauterine death. However, viral myocarditis with subsequent heart failure is another possible mechanism for hydrops formation as viral infection of fetal myocardial cells has been reported in postmortem examinations.

Successful advanced maternal age pregnancy with mosaic turner syndrome conceived after ovulation induction with clomiphene citrate: a case report.

Turner women typically experience gonadal dysfunction that results in amenorrhea and sterility. We encountered a case of mosaic Turner syndrome where conception was possible after ovulation induction with clomiphene citrate (CC). The patient's ovaries were overresponsive to induction with CC.

Investigation of the factors affecting the perinatal outcome of monochorionic diamniotic twins.

Purpose: To investigate the factors affecting the perinatal outcome in monochorionic diamniotic (MD) twins.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of MD twins treated in our hospital between April 1, 2006 and February 28, 2010. The neonatal outcomes of MD twins conceived by assisted reproductive technology or ovulation induction were compared to the outcomes of those conceived naturally.

Management of maternal hydrocephalus requires replacement of ventriculoperitoneal shunt with ventriculoatrial shunt: a case report.

Background: Women with ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt require special care during pregnancy, although they develop few complications related to hydrocephalus.

Case: We recently encountered a pregnant patient with hydrocephalus, which was caused by VP shunt malfunction induced by increased intra-abdominal pressure associated with pregnancy. She was treated by replacement of the VP shunt with a ventriculoatrial (VA) shunt.

Effect of bed rest during pregnancy on bone turnover markers in pregnant and postpartum women.

Objective: The aims of our study were to evaluate the changes in bone turnover markers during pregnancy and puerperium as a longitudinal study and to elucidate the effect of bed rest during pregnancy on bone turnover markers in pregnant and postpartum women.

Methods: The study population comprised 27 Japanese pregnant women aged 23-40 years. All women were recruited for the longitudinal study from the outpatients clinic of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tokushima University Hospital.

Differences in insulin sensitivity in pregnant women with overweight and gestational diabetes mellitus.

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to investigate changes in insulin sensitivity using homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) and the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) in normal-weight and overweight women with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy.

Methods: Ninety-two pregnant women in the first trimester, 202 in the second trimester and 154 in the third trimester were enrolled in this study. Fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were measured in all women in the first, second and third trimesters.

Impact of prepregnant body mass index and maternal weight gain on the risk of pregnancy complications in Japanese women.

Background: To analyze the association of pregnancy complications with prepregnant body mass index and weight gain during pregnancy in Japanese women.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted with 21,718 Japanese women with a singleton pregnancy. Pregnant women were grouped by prepregnant body mass index and evaluated for association with pregnancy complications using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Intrauterine hemodynamic change in TTTS: the alterations in the inferior vena cava waveform in the donor fetus.

Background: Significant hemodynamic changes are commonly observed in both fetuses in twin-twin transfusion syndrome.

Methods And Results: We describe two donor fetus cases in twin-twin transfusion syndrome associated with abnormal waveform patterns in the inferior vena cava after therapeutic amnioreduction. Subsequent echocardiographic examinations demonstrated progressive deterioration of the cardiac function in the recipient fetuses.