Maternal sickle cell anemia and neonatal isoimmunization.

Objective: To study the risk of alloimmunization in pregnant women with sickle cell disease (SCD) and of isoimmunization in their offspring.

Method: Thirty mothers with SCD were studied and their 35 neonates (group 1) were compared with 538 infants of mothers without hemoglobinopathies (group 2).

Result: Six mothers with SCD developed alloantibodies.

Serum bicarbonate and dehydration severity in gastroenteritis.

The concentration of bicarbonate was measured in serum samples from 106 children with gastroenteritis and dehydration. A concentration less than 22 mmol/l was more common in children with severe dehydration, but the magnitude of bicarbonate reduction was not significantly different with increasing degrees of dehydration. Doctors should not rely on the serum bicarbonate concentration when assessing fluid deficit.

High incidence of Down's syndrome in infants of diabetic mothers.

The incidence of Down's syndrome was studied in 1870 infants of diabetic mothers out of 22,300 neonates born between January 1987 and April 1994 in our institution. All pregnancies were screened for diabetes and all cases of Down's syndrome were confirmed by chromosome analysis. Down's syndrome (all trisomy 21) was diagnosed in 35 infants: seven were born to mothers with gestational diabetes and 28 to non-diabetic mothers.

Gestational and pre-gestational diabetes: comparison of maternal and fetal characteristics and outcome.

Objective: To determine the incidence of antenatal and intrapartum maternal and fetal complications of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and compare them with pre-gestational diabetes mellitus (pre-GDM) and non-diabetic pregnancies in our population.

Study Design: Nine-hundred and seventy-two women with gestational diabetes mellitus and 71 women with pre-gestational diabetes mellitus, and their offspring (delivered in our hospital between January 1991 and April 1994) were studied. Maternal and fetal prenatal and intrapartum complications were analyzed.