Ultrasound measurements of fetal facial profile markers and their associations with congenital malformations during early pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Fetal facial profile could be measured during the early pregnancy. Its abnormalities might be associated with certain congenital malformations. We aimed to study the associations between fetal facial profile measurements with crown-rump length and congenital malformations (cleft lip and palate, micrognathia, and open spina bifida) during early pregnancy. METHODS: We performed a prospective cross-sectional study between June 2019 and April 2022. Pregnant women at a gestational age between 11-13+ 6 weeks were enrolled. Two sonographers performed fetal facial profile measurements independently. The associations between these measurements with crown-rump length and congenital malformations were evaluated. RESULTS: There were 406 and 25 fetuses without or with congenital malformations, respectively. Two sonographers showed satisfactory inter- and intra-observer agreements and reproducibility. The maxillary gap was only observed in 7.6% of normal fetuses, whereas all cleft lip and palate fetuses had a maxillary gap ≥ 0.8 mm. The crown-rump length was negatively correlated with frontomaxillary facial angle, inferior facial angle, and profile line distance but positively correlated with maxilla-nasion-mandible angle, facial maxillary angle, frontal space distance, and palatine maxillary diameter. These measurements showed various significant changes with different congenital malformations. CONCLUSIONS: Measurements of fetal facial profile in early pregnancy were feasible with satisfactory reproducibility. These measurements correlated with crown-rump length and showed significant differences with certain fetal congenital malformations.

Preparation and Hardened Performance of Bentonite-Induced Porous Magnesium Oxysulfate Cement Paste.

Porous magnesium oxysulfate (MOS) cement pastes were successfully fabricated by injecting presaturated bentonite into modified MOS cement paste. Their pore structure and hardened performance were investigated. The results indicated that the 20MgO-MgSO4·7H2O-18H2O system modified by citric acid (C6H8O7⋅H2O) and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid was suitable to fabricate porous MOS cement paste. Bentonite slurry led to significant refinement of pores, generating nanosized pores in MOS cement pastes. When volume replacement of bentonite slurry in MOS cement paste rose between 0 and 60%, pore size corresponding to the peak in the pore size distribution curve of MOS cement-based materials decreased from 180.0 nm to 22.8 nm and then increased to 163.0 nm, and the porosity linearly increased from 21.1% to 58.1%. These small pores caused the successful preparation of porous MOS cement paste with dry bulk density of 760-1650 kg/m3, compressive strength of 7.8-69.8 MPa, and thermal conductivity of 0.25-0.85 W/(m·K).

Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of partial left pulmonary artery sling: A rare case report.

Pulmonary artery sling is a rare congenital vascular anomaly. Partial anomalous left pulmonary artery is even rarer and no in utero observation has yet been reported. Here, we present the ultrasonographic findings of a 38-year-old woman at 32 weeks of gestation whose fetus showed a normal bifurcation of the pulmonary trunk into the right and left pulmonary arteries, but an anomalous origin of the left lower lobe pulmonary artery from the right pulmonary artery. These findings were confirmed by postnatal echocardiography and thoracic computed tomography.

Effect of PEG-PDLLA polymeric nanovesicles loaded with doxorubicin and hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether on human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells in vitro.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cytotoxicity of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PEG-PDLLA) nanovesicles loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) and the photosensitizer hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether (HMME) on human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and to investigate potential apoptotic mechanisms. METHODS: PEG-PDLLA nanovesicles were simultaneously loaded with DOX and HMME (PEG-PDLLA-DOX-HMME), and PEG-PDLLA nanovesicles were loaded with DOX (PEG-PDLLA-DOX), HMME (PEG-PDLLA-HMME), or the PEG-PDLLA nanovesicle alone as controls. The cytotoxicity of PEG-PDLLA-DOX-HMME, PEG-PDLLA-DOX, PEG-PDLLA-HMME, and PEG-PDLLA against HepG2 cells was measured, and the cellular reactive oxygen species, percentage of cells with mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization, and apoptotic rate following treatment were determined. RESULTS: Four nanovesicles (PEG-PDLLA-DOX-HMME, PEG-PDLLA-DOX, PEG-PDLLA-HMME, and PEG-PDLLA) were synthesized, and mean particle sizes were 175±18 nm, 154±3 nm, 196±2 nm, and 147±15 nm, respectively. PEG-PDLLA-DOX-HMME was more cytotoxic than PEG-PDLLA-DOX, PEG-PDLLA-HMME, and PEG-PDLLA. PEG-PDLLA-HMME-treated cells had the highest mean fluorescence intensity, followed by PEG-PDLLA-DOX-HMME-treated cells, whereas PEG-PDLLA-DOX- and PEG-PDLLA-treated cells had a similar fluorescence intensity. Mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization was observed in 54.2%, 59.4%, 13.8%, and 14.8% of the cells treated with PEG-PDLLA-DOX-HMME, PEG-PDLLA-HMME, PEG-PDLLA-DOX, and PEG-PDLLA, respectively. The apoptotic rate was significantly higher in PEG-PDLLA-DOX-HMME-treated cells compared with PEG-PDLLA-DOX- and PEG-PDLLA-HMME-treated cells. CONCLUSION: The PEG-PDLLA nanovesicle, a drug delivery carrier, can be simultaneously loaded with two anticancer drugs (hydrophilic DOX and hydrophobic HMME). PEG-PDLLA-DOX-HMME cytotoxicity to HepG2 cells is significantly higher than the PEG-PDLLA nanovesicle loaded with DOX or HMME alone, and DOX and HMME have a synergistic effect against human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.