[Necrotizing panniculitis of the colon--a rare form of mesenterial panniculitis].

A 37-year old man was admitted with colics in the upper right abdomen. Since the laparoscopy revealed a massive thickening of the right colonic flexure a hemicolectomy was performed. The histologic examination yielded the diagnosis of a necrotizing panniculitis of the colon, a rare variant of mesenterial panniculitis usually occurring in the small intestine.

Smoking during pregnancy. Its effect on maternal metabolism and fetoplacental function.

The effects of smoking during pregnancy on maternal body composition and the fetoplacental unit were investigated serially in well-matched groups of 29 normal, healthy primigravid smokers and 31 nonsmokers. The babies of smokers were lighter by an average of 138 g, and there was a greater proportion of small-for-dates infants among smokers compared with nonsmokers. There was a failure in expansion of mean plasma volume and total body water in patients who smoked throughout pregnancy compared with nonsmokers.

Amniotic fluid testosterone in the prenatal determination of fetal sex.

In the field of genetics, a rapid and accurate test for the prenatal determination of fetal sex, especially in cases of sex-linked disorders, is desirable. Amniotic fluid testosterone was measured by the radioimmunoassay technique in 37 samples obtained at saline abortion between 16 and 19 weeks' gestation. Final confirmation of fetal sex was obtained from fetal gonadal histology.

False positive amniotic fluid alpha fetoprotein levels resulting from contamination with fetal blood: results of an experiment.

The finding of an elevated level of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) in amniotic fluid is of value in the prenatal diagnosis of open neural tube defects. The present study was done to determine the amount of fetal blood required in amniotic fluid to produce a significant and misleading increase in AFP. Fetal blood was obtained at hysterotomy, and measured volumes were added to amniotic fluid samples.

The influence of smoking on the haemostatic mechanism in pregnancy.

A prospective study through pregnancy is described comparing smokers with non-smokers in an attempt to assess possible changes in the haemostatic mechanism. Various components of the coagulation and fibrinolytic enzyme systems were assayed serially up to 38 weeks of gestation. Plasma fibrinogen was lower in the smokers than in the non-smokers.

Changes preceding the development of preeclamptic toxemia.

No differences were found at the 30th week of pregnancy in total body water, serum sodium, potassium, chloride and osmolality, plasma volume, total protein concentration, intravascular protein mass, serum albumin concentration, intravascular albumin mass, and urinary estriol and pregnanediol in 94 primigravidae who remained normotensive, 35 who developed mild preeclampsia, and 23 who developed severe preeclampsia (i.e. hypertension and significant proteinuria in the third trimester).

The cause of the fall in serum folate in normal pregnancy.

Study of a complete antenatal population, a group of normal primigravid singleton pregnancies, and a group of normal twin pregnancies, suggests that the fall in the serum folate concentration which occurs in normal pregnancy is due principally to plasma volume expansion and should therefore be regarded as physiological.

The effect of plasma retransfusion on the blood pressure in the puerperium.

Whole blood was collected from five patients with severe pre-eclampsia, three with mild pre-eclampsia, and three with normal uneventful pregnancies. The red cells were separated and replaced. The plasma was stored until after the patients were delivered and on the sixth postpartum day they were autotransfused with plasma.