The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology
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Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol · Feb 2008
ReviewVaricella and the pregnant woman: prevention and management.
Infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) is often considered a childhood 'right of passage'; however, primary infection occurring in women of child-bearing age can have significant adverse consequences both for the mother and for her fetus. During the first trimester, primary VZV infection may result in stillbirth or a baby born with the stigmata of the congenital varicella syndrome, while infection in the peripartum period can result in neonatal varicella, which carries a significant mortality rate despite appropriate antiviral therapy. ⋯ Determining a woman's serostatus prior to pregnancy is advised, as effective vaccines are now available and should be administered to non-pregnant seronegative women of child-bearing age. Clinical practice guidelines for management of a pregnant woman exposed to VZV are presented.
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Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol · Dec 2007
Fetal growth restriction and other risk factors for stillbirth in a New Zealand setting.
Stillbirth affects almost 1% of pregnant women in the Western world but is still not a research priority. ⋯ This study again emphasises the importance of suboptimal fetal growth as an important risk factor for stillbirth. Customised centiles identified more stillborn babies as SGA than population centiles especially preterm.
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Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol · Oct 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialDoes postoperative misoprostol use induce intestinal motility? A prospective randomised double-blind trial.
Misoprostol has been shown to increase colonic activity and decrease colonic transit time in chronic constipation patients. ⋯ Rectally administered misoprostol does not improve intestinal motility in the early postoperative period and thus, it is not effective in providing early oral food intake. On the contrary, it causes distention that requires additional analgesics and vomiting that naturally limits oral diet intake.
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Four days after an elective caesarean section, a patient went blind within a few hours, associated with a sudden rise in blood pressure. The blindness, initially thought to be caused by a cerebral infarct, was ultimately diagnosed as a result of posterior reversible leuco-encephalopathy syndrome. This rare syndrome is reviewed.