Meralgia paresthetica in the parturient.

Meralgia paresthetica is a common sensory mononeuropathy of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve which occurs in pregnancy as well as in many other conditions. The most likely etiology in pregnancy is entrapment of the nerve as it passes around the anterior superior iliac spine or through the inguinal ligament. Onset of symptoms, most commonly numbness on the anterolateral thigh but possibly including burning, tingling, and other paresthesias, can occur at any time during pregnancy or immediately after labor and delivery. Symptoms, which are almost always self-limited, can be disturbing to the parturient and may interfere with normal daily activities. If the physician is not familiar with this disorder and the involved anatomy, the search for a diagnosis can result in unneccessarily expensive tests and consultations. A careful neurologic examination is usually all that is necessary for diagnosis. When the diagnosis of meralgia paresthetica is made prior to childbirth, this should not contraindicate the use of regional anesthesia, if necessary, for labor and delivery. The mother should be reassured that the symptoms usually resolve following delivery. Conservative therapy such as minimizing periods of standing, eliminating tight clothing and using oral analgesics may contribute to recovery. As a last resort surgical therapy has been shown to be effective in some cases.

Isolation of alveolar epithelial cells from lung tissue obtained at autopsy.

Lung alveolar epithelial cells have been studied in a variety of laboratory animal models, and studies of human alveolar epithelial cells are important for comparison to information obtained from animal studies. Autopsy material is a source of human cells for study. Studies of human autopsy material revealed variables that negatively affected the yield of viable cells. For specimens from adults, these included death greater than 12 h before cell isolation, obvious severe lung fibrosis, longstanding metabolic disorders, and lung congestion indicated by weight of the right middle lobe greater than 150 g. Samples from children yielded significant numbers of viable cells up to 18 h after death. For 17 specimens that conformed to the above criteria, approximately 8.5 x 10(6) alveolar cells were obtained per gram of tissue (tissue weights ranged from 30 to 108 g) using a procedure involving instillation of proteases into the airways. The cells could be further fractionated, and 10 to 15% of the mixed cells obtained were type II pneumocytes. Analysis of NADPH cytochrome-c-reductase distribution in subcellular fractions provided evidence that the cells obtained were intact. Phospholipid enzyme activities and synthetic activity were within the ranges previously found in laboratory studies of freshly obtained animal lungs. These results suggest that significant numbers of viable and functional human lung cells, including type II pneumocytes, can be obtained from autopsy material.