Prevalencia al nacimiento de malformaciones congénitas y de menor peso de nacimiento en hijos de madres adolescentes / Prevalence of congenital malformations and low weight at birth among teenage mothers

BACKGROUND: In Chile, 14 to 16 per cent of births occur in teenage mothers. These mothers apparently have a higher frequency of premature labor, low birth weight and congenital malformations. AIM: To assess the frequency of prematurity, congenital malformations and weight at birth among the offspring of adolescent mothers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The births occurred in a hospital between 1982 and 2001, were analyzed using the Latin American Collaborative Study for Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC) data base. Mothers were classified as teenagers when their age ranged between 10 and 19 years old and older when their age was over 20 years old. All women were subdivided as cases and controls. RESULTS: The sample was formed by 894 teenage and 806 older mothers. Seven percent of both teenage and older mothers had offspring with one or more malformations. The incidence of low birth weight newborns and of prematurity was also similar in both groups of mothers. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample, offspring of teenage mothers do not have a higher frequency of malformations, low birth weight or prematurity.

Quiste ovárico fetal: diagnóstico ecográfico prenatal. Evolución y tratamiento postnatal. Casos clínicos / Fetal ovarian cyst: prenatal echographic diagnosis. Evolution and postnatal treatment. Clinical cases

Ovarian cysts are found in 32 per cent of necropsies performed to neonates. They can also be diagnosed during gestation by ultrasonography. The clinical evolution of these cysts is variable, but in most cases the prognosis is favorable. Some complications such as ovarian torsion, bleeding, rupture and peritonitis have been described. We report two newborn girls with ovarian cysts, diagnosed during gestation. One required an emergency operation due to vomiting and abdominal distension, interpreted as a possible torsion of the cyst. The second girl was operated at the fourth day of life, finding a left ovarian cyst with torsion of the pedicle. Both girls had a favorable postoperative evolution.

Prevalencia al nacimiento de aberraciones cromosómicas en el Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile. Período 1990-2001 / Prevalence of chromosomal aberrations at birth in the Clinical Hospital of Universidad de Chile, 1990-2001

BACKGROUND: A cytogenetical study should be performed to every newborn with malformations. If a chromosomal aberration is found, parents must be studied to give an adequate genetic advise. AIM: To study the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in newborns with malformations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile all malformations in newborns are registered, as part of the Collaborative Latin American Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC). The frequency of chromosomal aberrations, determined by cytogenetical studies, was determined in newborns with malformations. RESULTS: In the study period, there were 32,214 births. Of these, 2,268 live newborns and 43 stillbirths had malformations. Ninety nine children with malformations had chromosomal aberrations (4.3 per cent). Trisomy 21 was the most common aberration with a rate of 23/10,000 births, followed by trisomy 18 with a rate of 4/10,000 and trisomy 18 with a rate of 1.2/10,000. Ninety four percent of these children were born alive and 16.1 per cent died before discharge from the hospital. The masculinity indexes for Down syndrome and for trisomy 18 were 0.38 and 0.61 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A higher frequency of female gender for trisomy 21 and male gender for trisomy 18 has not been reported previously.

Transplante renal y embarazo.Tres casos clinicos de donante vivo. / Kidney transplantation and pregnancy. 3 clinical cases of living donors

Se relatan tres casos de embarazadas con transplante renal, que fueron atendidas en el Hospital Clinico de la Universidad de Chile, entre 1979 y 1983. La primera termina en un aborto espontaneo, y las otras dos pacientes en, parto espontaneo y cesarea por retardo de crecimiento intrauterino severo, respectivamente. Los recien nacidos nacieron con buena vitalidad, y su evolucion ha sido favorable a los 8 y 5 meses de observacion, fechas de esta publicacion. Se comentan los dos casos y se describen los cuidados maternos para cada caso