Listeriosis During Pregnancy: Maternal and Neonatal Consequences-A Case Report.

Listeriosis is a rare but extremely dangerous infection for both mother and fetus. This pathogen can spread in humans' bodies by consumption of contaminated food. The main high-risk groups of people for being infected are immunosuppressed and especially pregnant women. We present a case of materno-neonatal listeriosis illustrating that empiric antimicrobial therapy of chorioamnionitis during labor and neonate postpartum can also cover listeriosis which was not diagnosed prior to obtaining cultures.

Pregnancy after in vitro fertilization in an elderly primigravida with Shereshevsky-Turner Syndrome: A case report.

Background: Shereshevsky-Turner Syndrome is a chromosomal condition that affects females owing to full or partial missing of X-monosomy in all or part of the body's cells. Shereshevsky-Turner Syndrome is characterized by severe hormonal disorders and defects of the cardiovascular and urinary systems. With the advent of assisted reproductive technology (ART), pregnancy has become more accessible for this group of cases, often with donor eggs. In the available literature, it was not possible to find exact information during the time of selection of progestogen support, the duration of the appointment, and the term of withdrawal. Case presentation: This is the case of a 36-yr-old primigravid woman suffering from STs, mosaic karyotype comprising of 3 clones: 45X (69), 46XX (23), 47XXX (8), and 1000 interphase nuclei. In this case, we left high-maintenance doses of progesterone due to the application of ART and concomitant extragenital pathology, leading to a decrease in all functions of the placenta, including the endocrine. The woman was monitored before, during, and after the pregnancy. She was delivered at 37 wk and 6 days of gestation. Conclusion: ART increases the possibility of having a pregnancy and gestation in cases with a wide variety of genital and extragenital pathologies.

Assessment of changes in volume and vascularity of the ovaries during the normal menstrual cycle using three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: Our aim was to describe changes in the volume and vascularization of both ovaries, the dominant follicle and the corpus luteum during the normal menstrual cycle using three-dimensional (3D) power Doppler ultrasound. METHODS: Fourteen healthy volunteers underwent serial transvaginal 3D ultrasound examinations of both ovaries on cycle day 2, 3 or 4, then daily from cycle day 9 until follicular rupture and 1, 2, 5, 7 and 12 days after follicular rupture. The volume and vascular indices of the ovaries, the dominant follicle and the corpus luteum were calculated off-line using virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) software. RESULTS: The volume of the dominant ovary increased during the follicular phase, decreased after follicular rupture and then increased again during the luteal phase. Vascular indices in the dominant ovary and the dominant follicle/corpus luteum increased during the follicular phase, the vascular flow index (VFI) in the dominant follicle being on average (median) 1.7 times higher on the day before ovulation than 4 days before ovulation (P=0.003). The vascular indices continued to rise after follicular rupture so that VFI in the corpus luteum was on average (median) 3.1 times higher 7 days after ovulation than in the follicle on the day before ovulation (P=0.0002). The volume and vascular indices in the non-dominant ovary manifested no unequivocal changes during the menstrual cycle. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial changes occur in volume and vascularization of the dominant ovary during the normal menstrual cycle. 3D power Doppler ultrasound may become a useful tool for assessing pathological changes in the ovaries, for example, in subfertile patients.

Three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound assessment of the cervix for the prediction of successful induction of labor with prostaglandin in prolonged pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether 3-dimensional (3D) power Doppler ultrasound examination of the cervix can predict the success of labor induction with prostaglandin in prolonged pregnancy. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted with 36 women undergoing labor induction with prostaglandin at 41 gestational weeks 5 days and later. All 36 women underwent a transvaginal 2-dimensional gray scale ultrasound examination and a 3D power Doppler ultrasound examination of the cervix immediately before a planned post-term checkup. The analyzed variables were length, anterior-posterior diameter, and width of the cervix and any cervical funneling, cervical volume (in cubic centimeters), vascularization index, flow index, vascularization flow index, parity, and Bishop score. Results were compared among women with start of labor at 12 hours or less and more than 12 hours after application of the first prostaglandin suppository and among women who had delivery at 24 hours or less and more than 24 hours after the start of induction. RESULTS: Sonographically measured cervical length was shorter (mean, 1.8 versus 2.4 cm; P = .04), the Bishop score was higher (median, 5 versus 3; P = .02), and more women were parous (70% versus 37%; P = .05) among women who were in labor within 12 hours than in those who were not. The Bishop score was higher (median, 4 versus 2; P = .03) and more women were parous (69% versus 23%; P = .01) among women who had delivery at 24 hours or less than among those who did not. Cervical volume and the results of the 3D power Doppler ultrasound examination did not differ among women with different outcomes of labor induction. CONCLUSIONS: In women undergoing induction of labor with prostaglandin at 41 gestational weeks 5 days or later, sonographic cervical length, Bishop score, and parity are related to the success of labor induction, whereas cervical volume and the results of the 3D power Doppler examination are not.