Serum magnesium level in the first trimester of pregnancy as a predictor of pre-eclampsia - a pilot study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of serum concentration of magnesium (Mg) in the first trimester of pregnancy for predicting pre-eclampsia (PE).

Methods: This prospective study included 403 pregnant women over 18, with singleton pregnancy (from 11 to 14 weeks of pregnancy). The subjects were divided into a group who subsequently developed PE (PEKT) (n = 61), and a group of healthy pregnancies with no complications and with normal outcomes (TNT) (n = 342).

Partial rhombencephalosynapsis: prenatal MR imaging diagnosis and postnatal follow up.

We present a case of partial rhombencephalosynapsis, diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in fetus aged 27 gestational weeks, in a dizygotic twin pregnancy. The distinctive MRI features of this cerebellar malformation (segmental hypogenesis of the cerebellar vermis, partial fusion of the cerebellar hemispheres and dentate nuclei) without associated cerebral abnormalities were confirmed by 32-weeks prenatal and 3-months postnatal MRI studies. At the age of 12 months the affected twin had a slight delay in psychomotor development, mild hypotonia with normal cognitive development.

Prenatal diagnosis of posterior fossa anomalies--an overview.

Ultrasonography of the central nervous system is an integral part of a prenatal scan, and the development of imaging technologies has led to better diagnostic possibilities. Posterior fossa anomalies have traditionally been divided into Dandy Walke malformation, Dandy Walker variation and megacisterna magna, but this approach, due to diversity of the extensive number of possible disorders covered by this classification, unables accurate prognosis and therefore adequate counselling. An alternative approach to the classification of posterior fossa anomalies is to divide them into agenesis of the vermis, which could be partial or complete, cerebellar hypoplasia, pontocerebellar hypoplasia and cerebellar atrophy.

[Transvaginal sonography of the postmenopausal endometrium].

Introduction: The most frequent symptom suggesting endometrial pathology is uterine bleeding. Each postmenopausal uterine bleeding requires fraction explorative curettage and histopathologic examination of the material obtained from the cervical canal and uterine cavity. The aim of this study was to estimate the efficacy of ultrasonography as a non-invasive method in detection of endometrial pathology in postmenopausal women, and to find out whether its more frequent use could safely decrease the number of curettages in detection of these conditions.

[A proposed protocol for obstetrical ultrasound examination].

Introduction: Ultrasound has a number of valuable functions in obstetrics including dating, confirming viability, counting the number of fetuses and the exclusion of gross fetal anomalies. During two routine obstetric ultrasound scans, between 11 and 14 gestational weeks and around 20 weeks, the fetus should be carefully examined after which the existence of anomalies can be confirmed or, with a limited certainty that ultrasound enables, excluded. In order to obtain high standards of ultrasound screening, a uniformed protocol is needed, which would enable standardized examination.