Prevalence of common aneuploidy in twin pregnancies.

The incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in twin pregnancies is not well-studied. In this retrospective study, we investigated the frequency of chromosomal abnormalities in twin pregnancies and compared the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in dichorionic diamniotic (DD) and monochorionic diamniotic (MD) twins. We used data from 57 clinical facilities across Japan.

Evaluation of the clinical performance of noninvasive prenatal testing at a Japanese laboratory.

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in high-risk pregnant women.

Methods: Pregnant women who underwent GeneTech NIPT, the most commonly used NIPT in Japan, between January 2015 and March 2019, at Japan NIPT Consortium medical sites were recruited for this study. The exclusion criteria were as follows: pregnant women with missing survey items, multiple pregnancy/vanishing twins, chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus other than the NIPT target disease, and nonreportable NIPT results.

IGF1 gene is epigenetically activated in preterm infants with intrauterine growth restriction.

Background: IGF1 is a key molecule in the regulation of growth and metabolism. Low IGF1 secretion is known to cause growth restriction in childhood, as well as deregulated lipid metabolism, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in adulthood. The IGF1 gene P2 promoter is highly methylated, resulting in low secretion of IGF1 in small infants and children.

Ultrasound evaluation of fetal critical aortic stenosis using the left atrium area/cardiac area ratio and the Doppler patterns in the pulmonary veins.

In fetal critical aortic stenosis (AS), a double reverse pattern in the pulmonary veins (PVs) is associated with a poor prognosis. We evaluated the hemodynamic changes using PV Doppler and the left atrium area/cardiac area (LA/CA) ratio in a fetus at 28 weeks of gestation with critical AS complicated with hydrops fetalis, polyhydramnios, and cardiac abnormality. A markedly enlarged LA and severe mitral regurgitation with critical AS were detected, with LA/CA ratio = 0.

Effectiveness of delayed absorbable monofilament suture in emergency cerclage.

Objective: To determine the sustained effects of emergency cerclage using slowly absorbable monofilament sutures, changes in cervical length after cerclage were evaluated in six cases.

Materials And Methods: A delayed absorbable monofilament suture (1 PDS-Plus; Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, NJ, USA) has been used for emergency cerclage after 20 weeks of gestation at Juntendo University Hospital since January 2011.

Double vertical compression sutures: A novel conservative approach to managing post-partum haemorrhage due to placenta praevia and atonic bleeding.

Compression has been regarded as the main haemostatic mechanism of compression sutures; however, we suggest that reduced uterine blood flow may be another important action. We suggest that our 'double vertical compression sutures' may have dual actions: haemostatic compression of the bleeding surface and reduced uterine blood flow.

Pulmonary artery size has prognostic value in low birth weight infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between birth weight, pulmonary artery (PA) size, and outcome in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) to establish if PA size has prognostic value.

Methods: The subjects for this study were 39 consecutive left-sided CDH patients treated at our institution according to the same protocol from 2002 to 2009. Other CDH patients with concurrent anomalies that eventually caused death or who became symptomatic more than 6 h after birth were excluded.

Attempt to quantify uterine involution using acoustic radiation force impulse before and after placental delivery.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether baseline stiffness of the uterine corpus and cervix accurately estimated by acoustic radiation force impulse (AFRI) elastography changed after placental delivery.

Methods: Eleven patients with normal vaginal delivery underwent ARFI elastography before, immediately after, and 1 and 2 h after placental delivery, and the shear wave velocity was measured to determine the stiffness. Each measurement was performed in triplicate to obtain a mean ± SD.

Indications for thoracoscopic repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia in neonates.

Purpose: We reviewed 26 consecutive cases of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) prospectively to establish selection criteria for successful thoracoscopic CDH repair (TR).

Methods: Five preoperative deaths were excluded, leaving 21 subjects. TR was only considered once pulmonary hypertension (PH) improved on echocardiography, and if cardiopulmonary status was stable in the decubitus position in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) under conventional mechanical or high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) with/without nitric oxide (NO) for at least 10 min as a marker for tolerating surgery and manual ventilation was possible for transfer to the operating room.

Disruption of the C-terminal helix by single amino acid deletion is directly responsible for impaired cholesterol efflux ability of apolipoprotein A-I Nichinan.

Apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) Nichinan, a naturally occurring variant with DeltaE235 in the C terminus, is associated with low plasma HDL levels. Here, we investigated the tertiary structure, lipid-binding properties, and ability to induce cellular cholesterol efflux of apoA-I Nichinan and its C-terminal peptide. Thermal and chemical denaturation experiments demonstrated that the DeltaE235 mutation decreased the protein stability compared with wild type (WT).

Evaluation of congenital left ventricular aneurysm in the fetus by velocity vector imaging.

We report a case of left ventricular aneurysm evaluated using the velocity vector imaging (VVI) technique, an angle-independent method used to calculate the tissue velocity strain and strain rate on routine gray scale two-dimensional images and display the velocities of endocardial points as vectors overlaid on B-mode images. It uses a combination of speckle tracking and complex geometric analysis, allowing tracing of myocardial activity throughout the cardiac cycle. In this case, evaluation of the myocardial dynamics in the fetus by VVI was started at 27 weeks of gestation, and both the systolic and diastolic velocities and the ejection fraction in the aneurysmal segment were less than in the other segments.

Deletion of single amino acid E235 affects the structure and lipid interaction of human apolipoprotein A-I C-terminal peptides.

The C-terminal domain of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I plays an important role in lipid binding. ApoA-I Nichinan, a naturally occurring human apoA-I variant with a deletion of E235 located in the C-terminus, is associated with low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterolemia. In the present study, a series of variant peptides corresponding to residues 220-241 of human apoA-I were examined to clarify the influences of E235 deletion (DeltaE235) on the structure and lipid interaction of the C-terminal region.

Evaluation of lipid-binding properties of the N-terminal helical segments in human apolipoprotein A-I using fragment peptides.

Although the N-terminal region in human apolipoprotein (apo) A-I is thought to stabilize the lipid-free structure of the protein, its role in lipid binding is unknown. Using synthetic fragment peptides, we examined the lipid-binding properties of the first 43 residues (1-43) of apoA-I in comparison with residues 44-65 and 220-241, which have strong lipid affinity in the molecule. Circular dichroism measurements demonstrated that peptides corresponding to each segment have potential propensity to form alpha-helical structure in trifluoroethanol.

Prospective comparison of delivery outcomes of vaginal births after cesarean section versus laparoscopic myomectomy.

Aim: This study was designed to assess the delivery outcomes of vaginal birth after cesarean section in comparison with delivery after laparoscopic myomectomy.

Methods: The following data were collected: the proportion of patients who attempted vaginal birth, success rate, maternal age, previous number of vaginal deliveries, gestational weeks, birthweight, Apgar score, umbilical blood pH, and duration of labor in cases with a successful vaginal birth.

Results: The proportion of patients who attempted the vaginal birth differed significantly between the two groups (P < 0.

Significance of pulmonary artery size and blood flow as a predictor of outcome in congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Aim: To determine if pulmonary artery size and blood flow have prognostic value in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).

Methods: Twenty-eight consecutive left-sided CDH patients treated according to a standard protocol with high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) + nitric oxide (NO) had right and left pulmonary artery (RPA, LPA) diameters, LPA/RPA diameter (L/R) ratios, and PA blood flows examined by echocardiography (EC) on days 0, 2, and 5 after birth and compared prospectively.

Results: Twenty-two patients (78.

Management of pulmonary hypertension in congenital diaphragmatic hernia: nitric oxide with prostaglandin-E1 versus nitric oxide alone.

Aim: Prostaglandin-E1 (PGE1) is used at most centers for treating pulmonary hypertension (PH) in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) because it has been regarded as effective. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of PGE1 for treating PH in CDH.

Methods: We reviewed 49 CDH cases with echocardiography-proven PH.

Beta2-microglobulin required for cell surface expression of blastocyst MHC.

Blastocyst MHC is a mouse MHC class Ib gene that is selectively expressed in blastocysts and placenta like human HLA-G, which protect fetal trophoblasts and some tumor cells from NK cell attack, and in TAP-dependent expression on the cell surface. We expressed blastocyst MHC cDNA in beta2-deficient EL-4 S3 or beta2m-transfected EL-4 S3 cells. In parental EL-4 S3 cells, only 47-kDa blastocyst MHC protein was expressed and retained in the cytoplasm.

Blastocyst MHC, a putative murine homologue of HLA-G, protects TAP-deficient tumor cells from natural killer cell-mediated rejection in vivo.

Blastocyst MHC is a recently identified mouse MHC class Ib gene, which is selectively expressed in blastocyst and placenta, and may be the mouse homolog of HLA-G gene the products of which have been implicated in protection of fetal trophoblasts from maternal NK cells and evasion of some tumor cells from NK cell attack. In this study, we identified two blastocyst MHC gene transcripts encoding a full-length alpha-chain (bc1) and an alternatively spliced form lacking the alpha2 domain (bc2), which may be homologous to HLA-G1 and HLA-G2, respectively. Both placenta and a teratocarcinoma cell line predominantly expressed the bc2 transcript.