Background—A fetus exposed to maternal anti-SSA/Ro or anti-SSB/La antibodies (or both) may develop complete atrioventricular block (AVB), which results in high prenatal and postnatal morbidity and mortality. Until recently, only high-grade AVB could be diagnosed in utero. The tissue velocity–based fetal kinetocardiogram (FKCG) enables accurate measurement of AV conduction time and diagnosis of ...

BACKGROUND The recent discovery of the presence of circulating cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma opens up new prenatal diagnostic applications and provides new avenues for clinical investigation. It is of research and potential diagnostic interest to determine whether fetal trisomy 21 may be associated with quantitative abnormalities of circulating fetal DNA in maternal plasma. METHODS M...

Abnormal fetal growth (growth restriction and overgrowth) is associated with perinatal morbidity, mortality, lifelong risks to health. To describe abnormal growth, “small for gestational age” “large are commonly used terms. However, both statistical definitions of size below or above a certain threshold related reference population, rather than referring an condition. Fetuses can be constitutio...

Objective. The purpose of this study was to establish the outlook for fetuses diagnosed with complete atrioventricular septal defect (cAVSD) prenatally and its relation to additional cardiac, extracardiac, and chromosomal abnormalities. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed fetal echocardiograms diagnosed with cAVSD from January 2002 to December 2007, comparing fetuses with and without aneuploid...

PURPOSE To establish a correlation between testicular position and fetal weight, in order to provide an additional prenatal parameter for fetal weight estimation. MATERIALS AND METHODS We studied 288 testes from 144 human fetuses. The fetuses were assessed as regards weight, total length, crown-rump length and foot length. Fetal age was calculated according to the foot length criteria. The po...

Cloned bovines have a much higher abortion rate than those derived in vivo. Available evidence indicates that inappropriate epigenetic reprogramming of donor nuclei is the primary cause of cloning failure. To gain a better understanding of the DNA methylation changes associated with the high abortion rate of cloned bovines, we examined the DNA methylation status of a repeated sequence (satellit...

BACKGROUND There are few studies in the literature performed in human fetuses evaluating the incidence of genitourinary anomalies. AIMS Analyze the incidence of congenital urogenital malformations in human male fetuses. STUDY DESIGNS AND SUBJECTS: We analyzed 166 human male fetuses well preserved. The gestational age was determined in weeks post conception (WPC) according to the foot length c...

OBJECTIVES To investigate whether fetal cardiac axis is affected by the presence of an abdominal wall defect (AWD) independent of congenital heart disease (CHD). METHODS Video ultrasound records from fetuses with AWDs identified from 1991-2004 were reviewed. Still images of the fetal cardiac four-chamber view were digitized and two independent examiners measured the cardiac axis. A cardiac ax...

Preterm infants are often treated with intravenous dopamine to increase mean arterial blood pressure (MAP). However, there are few data regarding cerebrovascular responses of developing animals to dopamine infusions. We studied eight near-term and eight preterm chronically catheterized unanesthetized fetal sheep. We measured cerebral blood flow and calculated cerebral vascular resistance (CVR) ...

PURPOSE To scrutinize the validity of a novel angle (maxilla-mandible-nasion angle, MMN) as objective proof of midfacial hypoplasia in trisomy 21 fetuses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Volume data sets of 2(nd) trimester fetuses were reviewed in this retrospective study. After achievement of the correct midsagittal position, the fetal profile line (FP line) and the mandibulo-maxillary line (MML) were...