OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to determine whether obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with reduced fetal growth, and whether nocturnal oxygen desaturation precipitates acute fetal heart rate changes. STUDY DESIGN We performed a prospective observational study, screening 371 women in the second trimester for OSA symptoms. 41 subsequently underwent overnight sleep studies to...

Triploidy is a lethal chromosomal abnormality. Foetuses with triploid condition have a tendency to die in early conception and very few survive to term. In this study, we report the prenatal diagnosis of fetal triploidy with unexpected chromosomal translocation. A 27 years old women was referred to our clinical cytogenetic department due to history of previous conceptus with intrauterine growth...

This editorial article reviews some of the mathematical foundations which form the basis of ultrasound screening for fetal growth anomalies and the estimation of gestational age in the first trimester. Recent developments are discussed including individually fitted crown rump length (CRL) curves, customized antenatal growth charts, fetal growth velocity, and computer simulation for fetal growth...

Clear guidance on fetal growth assessment is important because of the strong links between growth restriction or macrosomia and adverse perinatal outcome in order to reduce associated morbidity and mortality. Fetal growth curves are extensively adopted to track fetal sizes from the early phases of pregnancy up to delivery. In the literature, a large variety of reference charts are reported but ...

Extreme fetal growth is associated with increased susceptibility to a range of adult diseases through an unknown mechanism of cellular memory. We tested whether heritable epigenetic processes in long-lived CD34(+) haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells showed evidence for re-programming associated with the extremes of fetal growth. Here we show that both fetal growth restriction and over-growth a...

By the use of ultrasound, chemical analysis and histologic techniques, the knowledge of embryo and fetal growth and developments is increasing steadily.  It has been demonstrated that the fetus can respond to sound, bright light and touch. Accordingly, works on fetal responses to external stimuli during the third trimester may ultimately lead to improve­ments in the techniques of antepartum fe...