The Evaluation of Fetal Cardiac Remote Screening in the Second Trimester of Pregnancy Using the Spatio-Temporal Image Correlation Method.

We prospectively performed remote fetal cardiac screening using the spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC), and examined the usefulness and problems of remote screening. We performed heart screening for all pregnant women at four obstetrics clinics over the three years from 2009 to 2014. The STIC data from 15,404 examinations in normal pregnancies (16-27 weeks, median 25 weeks) were analyzed.

Mesenteric hernia causing bowel obstruction in very low-birthweight infants.

Internal hernia through a mesenteric defect, called mesenteric hernia, is an uncommon cause of acute intestinal obstruction in newborns. Strangulated mesenteric hernia results in intestinal necrosis or perforation and progressive deterioration with fatal outcome, especially when it occurs in low-birthweight infants. We report two very low-birthweight (VLBW) infants, who presented with acute intestinal obstruction related to mesenteric defect.

Outcome of congenital diaphragmatic hernia with indication for Fontan procedure.

Background: The aim of this study was to clarify the outcome of patients with cardiovascular malformation (CVM) among those with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) who are indicated for the Fontan procedure.

Methods: The subjects included 76 CDH patients with CVM recruited from a national survey of 614 CDH patients. The outcomes were evaluated between two groups divided according to indication for the Fontan procedure.

Neonatal lupus erythematosus complicated by improved congenital complete heart block.

Complete congenital heart block (CCHB) accompanied with neonatal lupus erythematosus is caused by an immune reaction between maternal anti-Ro/SSA antibodies and the fetal heart and is generally considered an irreversible process. This reaction mostly occurs before 30 weeks' gestation, especially between the 20th and 24th week. Reported here is an atypical case of neonatal lupus erythematosus with CCHB detected after 32 weeks' gestation that showed postnatal improvement in the degree of heart block after preterm delivery and immunoglobulin use.