Human spermatozoal tail hypo-osmotic swelling test, motility characteristics in hypotonic saline, and survival of spermatozoa after cryopreservation.

Normozoospermic semen samples (n = 82) were examined to investigate whether the degree of sperm tail swelling in hypo-osmotic medium (fructose and sodium citrate; 150 mOsm/l), and motility characteristics after a 15-min exposure to hypotonic saline (sodium chloride; 150 mOsm/l) could predict the cryosurvival rate (% post-thaw motility/% pre-freeze motility x 100%) of spermatozoa after cryopreservation by the liquid nitrogen vapour freezing method using the TEST-glycerol-egg yolk buffer. The CellSoft automated semen analyser was used to analyse sperm motility in pre-freeze and post-thaw semen samples, and after exposure to hypotonic saline. Sperm tail hypo-osmotic swelling and sperm motility in pre-freeze semen showed no significant correlations (P > 0.

Comparison of culture for group B streptococcus versus enzyme immunoassay and latex agglutination rapid tests: results in 250 patients during labor.

Two hundred fifty women in labor were screened for vaginal colonization by group B streptococcus using standard culture and two rapid tests. This primarily Hispanic population had a group B streptococcus vaginal colonization rate of 2.4% (95% confidence interval 0.

Necessity for routine obstetric screening for hepatitis B surface antigen.

Routine serologic testing of pregnant women in a predominantly Hispanic population at the Los Angeles County Medical Center revealed that 8 of 2,000 were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBSAg). Only two of the eight women had a risk factor as currently defined by the Centers for Disease Control. Screening of all pregnant women is necessary to identify those HBSAg-positive women capable of transmitting the hepatitis B virus to their infants.