Side-effects to the use of laptop computers: erythema ab igne.

The use of laptop computers is increasing, and many children and young adults spend hours with their laptops on their laps daily. We report a case with erythema ab igne on the thigh of a 17-year-old girl, induced by use of laptop computers four to five hours daily for nine months.

Diagnosis of Chiari III malformation by second trimester fetal MRI with postnatal MRI and CT correlation.

We report a case of Chiari III malformation diagnosed by fetal MRI. Ultrasound (US) performed at a gestational age of 18 weeks demonstrated a posterior skull base cyst. Repeat US at 19 weeks demonstrated neural tissue in the cyst, consistent with an encephalocele. MR imaging at 23 weeks confirmed the presence of an occipital encephalocele, demonstrated additional bony defect in the upper cervical spine, and identified abnormal morphology and position of the brainstem consistent with the diagnosis of Chiari III. Postnatal MRI and CT confirmed the fetal MRI findings and demonstrate the utility of fetal MRI in the early evaluation of songraphically detected posterior fossa abnormalities.

Nuchal translucency screening: how do women actually utilize the results?

OBJECTIVE: To examine how women use the nuchal translucency (NT) risk adjustment in decision-making for invasive prenatal diagnosis. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of 1083 consecutive NT screening exams. A screen-positive test was defined as a risk > or = 1/300. Primary outcome was what proportion of screen-positive or screen-negative women chose to undergo chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. RESULTS: Of the women tested, 79% (858/1083) were > or = 35-years-old and 88% (756/858) of these women had a decrease in age-related risk after NT. Of the screen-negative women, 31% (238/756) > or = 35 years of age chose to have invasive testing as compared to only 11.2% (25/223) of those < 35 years of age (p < 0.001). Of the screen-positive women, 71% (72/102) > or = 35 years of age and 100% (2/2) < 35 years of age chose to obtain invasive testing (p = 0.368). CONCLUSION: First-trimester NT screening for Down syndrome (DS) enables a significant number of women over age 35 to lower the risk for DS several fold and avoid the risks of invasive testing. However, despite significant reductions in age-specific mid-trimester DS risks, a relatively high proportion of women > or = 35 years of age still opted for invasive testing.