OBJECTIVE To evaluate maternal complications and perinatal outcomes in women with mechanical heart valves treated with warfarin and heparin during pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN A retrospective chart review was performed on 45 pregnancies in 28 women who were previously fitted with mechanical valve prostheses and treated between 1991 and 2005 at Seoul National University Hospital. Outcome parameters...

First-trimester surgical abortion is a common, safe procedure with a major complication rate of less than 1%. Cervical dilation before suction abortion is usually accomplished using tapered mechanical dilators. Risk factors for major complications in the first trimester include increasing gestational age and provider inexperience. Cervical priming before first-trimester surgical abortion has be...

An association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring obesity has been reported. This study assessed the impact of maternal smoking during the first trimester. Data on 4,974 German children aged 5-6 years were obtained at school entry health examinations in 2001-2002 in Bavaria. Obesity was defined by body mass index using International Obesity Task Force cutpoints. Prevalence ...

UNLABELLED The Thrombelastograph((R)) test (TEG; Haemoscope Corporation, Skokie, IL) was used to assess the effects of midtrimester and final-trimester amniotic fluid (AF) on whole blood coagulation. Different volumes of midtrimester and final-trimester AF were added to whole blood from nonpregnant volunteers in a series of TEG tests. The addition of both midtrimester and final-trimester AF res...

OBJECTIVE The role of first trimester maternal body mass index (BMI) and adipocytokines in cord blood c-peptide and birth weight in pregnancy was investigated. DESIGN Seventy non-diabetic pregnant Caucasian women were recruited. Anthropometry and measurements of fasting adipocytokines (visfatin, leptin, adiponectin), insulin and glucose were performed in each of the three trimesters. At birth...

BACKGROUND Despite changes to the South African abortion legislation in 1996, barriers to women accessing abortions still exist. Second trimester abortions, an inherently more risky procedure, continue to be 20% of all abortions. Understanding the reasons why women delay seeking an abortion until the second trimester is important for informing interventions to reduce the proportion of second tr...

The thickness of various underlying tissue layers were measured at locations where the overall thickness and, therefore, the ultrasound attenuation prior to the fetus appeared minimized. Identification of a worst case, or a small group of potentially high exposure situations, is necessary for the optimal design and use of ultrasound equipment. Appropriate measurements in these cases allow calcu...