Studies of postnatal diabetes mellitus in women who had gestational diabetes. Part 1. Estimation of the prevalence of unrecognized prepregnancy diabetes mellitus.

This study investigated the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in women in the reproductive age group in a Victorian population by analysis of the results of glucose tolerance testing in 57,563 pregnancies. Gestational diabetes (GD) was diagnosed in 4,243 pregnancies and in 2,957 (69.7%) of these, postnatal glucose tolerance testing was performed.

A follow-up program for women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To analyse the patterns of attendance in a gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) follow-up program for detection of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus.

Design: Retrospective cohort study using computerised data from the GDM follow-up program.

Participants And Setting: All women with GDM who delivered at the Mercy Hospital for Women in Victoria between 1 January 1981 and 31 December 1995.

A simple method for assessment of the human acrosome reaction of spermatozoa bound to the zona pellucida: lack of relationship with ionophore A23187-induced acrosome reaction.

Acrosome reactions induced by the calcium ionophore A23187 and zona pellucida (ZP) were studied. Sperm samples were obtained from fertile men or men with normal semen analysis and normal sperm-ZP binding. Oocytes were obtained, with the consent of the patients, after the failure of fertilization in vitro.

Collection of semen from men in acute phase of spinal cord injury.

In chronic spinal cord injury, semen obtained by assisted ejaculation is usually abnormal. We have assessed electroejaculation early after injury in seven patients. There were no adverse effects.

Acrosome status and morphology of human spermatozoa bound to the zona pellucida and oolemma determined using oocytes that failed to fertilize in vitro.

It is known that only acrosome-reacted spermatozoa can fuse with the oolemma during normal fertilization with zona pellucida-intact oocytes. The aim of this study was to determine if the oolemma of human zona pellucida-free oocytes selectively binds spermatozoa with normal morphology and a reacted acrosome. Oocytes that failed to fertilize in vitro because of severe sperm defects were used.

A new test for the assessment of sperm-zona pellucida penetration: relationship with results of other sperm tests and fertilization in vitro.

The spermatozoa of some patients attending for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) fail to penetrate the zona pellucida in vitro. A test has been devised to identify these cases. It is based on the number of spermatozoa penetrating into the zona pellucida, which were counted after removing spermatozoa bound to the zona surface by vigorous aspiration of each oocyte through a narrow gauge (120 microns) glass pipette.

Comparison of Percoll, mini-Percoll and swim-up methods for sperm preparation from abnormal semen samples.

Two methods of density gradient centrifugation, Percoll (P) and mini-Percoll (MP), were compared with the swim-up technique for preparing spermatozoa from each of 40 abnormal semen samples. P and MP produced similar results with a mean recovery of spermatozoa with progressive motility which was significantly higher (18-19%) than that achieved with swim-up (5%). However, the swim-up method resulted in the recovery of spermatozoa with a higher mean motility (89 versus 58%), velocity (69 versus 56 microns/s), percentage with normal morphology (22 versus 16%) and intact acrosomes (61 versus 36%) than P and MP.

Survey of hand symptoms in pregnancy.

In a study of 1216 pregnancies, 427 (35%) patients reported hand symptoms. Symptoms of the same quality and distribution were reported by 40 (30%) of 132 control subjects within the previous year, and although invariably mild, these symptoms suggest that pregnancy may aggravate a pre-existing condition. Fewer than 20% of the 427 affected patients described a classic median-nerve symptom distribution (carpal tunnel syndrome), while 12% of patients described an ulnar-nerve distribution, which is thought to represent a genuine and previously underestimated occurrence of ulnar-nerve neuropathy in pregnancy.