Technical note: A muscle biopsy technique for stratifying cattle by skeletal muscle metabolic activity.

Tissue biopsy metabolic activity, assessed using the oxidation-reduction indicator resazurin, may serve as a proxy to assess energy expenditure associated with maintenance in nongrowing animals or growth rate in growing animals. Herein, we evaluate the repeatability, practicality, and sensitivity of a resazurin-based assay for ranking bovine skeletal muscle biopsies based on metabolic activity. Six yearling Holstein heifers (body weight = 330 ± 11.

Prenatal diagnosis of a fetal intracranial tumor.

Neonatal intracranial tumors are rare and usually indicate a poor prognosis. The first case report of the identification of a fetal intracranial tumor by transabdominal ultrasonography was in 1980. Transvaginal ultrasonography and MR imaging have recently been employed to improve the imaging of fetal intracranial structures and abnormalities.

Placental pathophysiology of the twin oligohydramnios-polyhydramnios sequence and the twin-twin transfusion syndrome.

Currently accepted sonographic criteria for antenatal diagnosis of twin-twin transfusion (TTT) syndrome include a monochorionic placenta with same-sex twins, marked growth discordance, and oligohydramnios of the growth-retarded twin with coexistent polyhydramnios of the larger twin. Our previous report of nine women fulfilling these criteria, examined using sequential funipuncture of both fetuses, demonstrated inter-twin blood transfusion in only four cases (44 per cent). It was proposed that traditional sonographic criteria actually describe a heterogeneous group of disorders more appropriately described as the twin oligohydramnios-polydramnios sequence (TOPS).

Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome: a subset of the twin oligohydramnios-polyhydramnios sequence.

Objective: Our purpose was to assess the adequacy of currently accepted criteria for the diagnosis of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

Study Design: Between April 1991 and February 1992 nine consecutive women with twin gestations and ultrasonographic findings of marked growth discordance, coexistent oligohydramnios-polyhydramnios, monochorionic placenta, and same sex of the fetus in the second trimester were evaluated. Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 19 weeks 5 days +/- 5 weeks, and mean growth discordance was 34% +/- 9%.