ABSTRACT
The first 2,013 fetuses in 2,000 patients undergoing genetic amniocentesis at our institution were analyzed for the incidence of abnormal findings and for the safety and accuracy of the procedure. One percent of the patients were found to have aneuploid fetuses and another 1% were found to have elevated amniotic fluid concentrations of alpha-fetoprotein. Advanced maternal age was the indication for amniocentesis in 84% of the women with aneuploid fetuses. Thirty-two (1.6%) of the pregnancies ended in spontaneous abortion and 35 (1.7%) were terminated because of abnormal results of the prenatal diagnostic procedure. Our error rate was 0.15%, and tissue culture was successful in 97.7% of the procedures. During the latter part of our experience concurrent ultrasonography was utilized with the amniocentesis, resulting in a reduction in blood-tinged specimens from 15.0% to 5.2%. In experienced hands, midtrimester amniocentesis for the purpose of prenatal diagnosis of genetically determined defects is a safe, accurate, and valuable procedure for the identification of fetal abnormalities.
Subject(s)
Amniocentesis , Congenital Abnormalities/genetics , Adult , Amniocentesis/adverse effects , Aneuploidy , Congenital Abnormalities/diagnosis , Diagnostic Errors , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Pregnancy , Ultrasonography , alpha-Fetoproteins/analysisABSTRACT
Digoxin has been successfully used to treat fetal supraventricular tachycardia. When therapy with digoxin fails, alternative therapies have met with equivocal success. In this report, successful fetal therapy with maternally administered digoxin and quinidine is presented in three consecutive patients with fetal supraventricular tachycardia. The arrhythmia was eliminated in each instance. Fetal ascites, present in two fetuses, was completely reversed. Intrapartum fetal distress was not observed. The rationale of this therapy and a review of pertinent literature are also presented.
Subject(s)
Digoxin/therapeutic use , Fetal Diseases/drug therapy , Quinidine/therapeutic use , Tachycardia/drug therapy , Administration, Oral , Adolescent , Adult , Ascites/drug therapy , Digoxin/administration & dosage , Drug Therapy, Combination , Echocardiography , Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Quinidine/administration & dosage , Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome/drug therapyABSTRACT
The need for increased dynamic range of echoes in echocardiography is discussed. A method for acquiring color coded echocardiograms is described and advantages as well as disadvantages are discussed. Typical results of color coded echocardiograms are shown.
Subject(s)
Color , Echocardiography , HumansABSTRACT
The radionuclide, gallium-67, accumulates in a wide variety of neoplastic and inflammatory lesions. Diffuse bilateral lung localization of 67Ga occurred in two cases of interstitial pneumonitis associated with bleomycin therapy. Clinical symptoms and laboratory evaluation of pulmonary status correlated with scintigraphic studies in these two patients, while discrepancies between scintigraphic and roentgenographic findings were observed.
Subject(s)
Bleomycin/adverse effects , Gallium Radioisotopes , Pulmonary Fibrosis/diagnosis , Radionuclide Imaging , Bleomycin/therapeutic use , Humans , Lung/physiopathology , Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse/drug therapy , Male , Middle Aged , Pulmonary Fibrosis/chemically inducedABSTRACT
The need for increased dynamic range of echoes in ultrasonograms is generally acknowledge. Advantages and disadvantages of color-coded gray scale ultrasonography as well as methods for their acquisition are discussed. A color encoding method for obtaining color ultrasonograms is described and results are demonstrated.