Journal of perinatal medicine
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Pregnant women spend more than half of the day in an upright position. The physiological effects of this posture on the mother and the fetus are evaluated. Changes in vascular autoregulation and anatomy lead to maternal fainting in about 8% of women during early pregnancy. ⋯ The fetal heart rate baseline is significantly increased in the upright position with a significantly reduced acceleration frequency (p less than 0.001). Combined with the data from epidemiologic studies, prolonged standing during late pregnancy may signal potential risks for the fetus such as low birth weight, prematurity and stillbirths because of an 'uterovascular syndrome'. Maternal standing possibly may be used as a physiological fetal stress test.
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During twenty animal experiments the effectiveness of the gas exchange during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was evaluated. Arteriovenous, venovenous and venoarterial perfusion systems were compared. ⋯ The absolute values of PCO2 were significantly lowest during venoarterial perfusion (39.68 +/- 3.1 mmHg) compared to the venovenous (42.69 +/- 3.3 mmHg) and the arteriovenous mode (49.96 +/- 4.1 mmHg). These results indicate that perfusion circuits other than the original venoarterial ECMO could provide sufficient gas transfer for respiratory insufficient neonates while avoiding points of criticism of such systems.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Pulsatile oxytocin for induction of labor: a randomized prospective controlled study.
In a prospective randomized study, 20 patients with term pregnancies underwent induction of labor with either continuous or pulsed (every 8 minutes) intravenous oxytocin infusion. There were no significant differences with respect to induction-labor interval, induction-delivery interval, cesarean section rates, need for pain relief and Apgar scores. Sixty percent of patients receiving continuous oxytocin infusion developed uterine hyperstimulation but only 10% receiving pulsed oxytocin did so. ⋯ The mean +/- SEM total amount of oxytocin given by continuous infusion was 4237 +/- 1066 mU which was 70% more than by pulsatile infusion (2454 +/- 808 mU). The highest rate of oxytocin infused was significantly lower by pulsatile administration (5.2 +/- 0.8 mU/min) than by continuous infusion (9.2 +/- 1.8 mU/min, p = less than 0.05). Our study demonstrates that pulsed administration of oxytocin every 8 minutes is as effective and safe as continuous intravenous infusion of oxytocin for induction of labor, requires less oxytocin with therefore, a wider margin of safety and is consistent with the pulsatile release of oxytocin during normal labor.
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Two groups of 45 term, vaginally delivered infants were studied to determine effect of maternal intrapartum glucose therapy on neonatal blood glucose level at birth and at one and 2 hours of age. Twenty-three infants whose mother received glucose infusion prior to delivery (study group) had a significantly higher mean cord blood glucose level, lower 2 hour blood glucose levels and about three times higher incidence of hypoglycemia (glucose level less than or equal to 2.2 mmol/l) as compared to 22 infants whose mothers did not receive any glucose or fluid therapy. Neurobehavioral evaluation of the infants at 1 and 2 hour demonstrated, a significant association between hypoglycemia and a low muscle tone score and a delayed habituation to various stimuli. Blood glucose levels must be routinely monitored in infants whose mother receive glucose infusion prior to delivery to detect and treat early neonatal hypoglycemia.
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Comparative Study
Oversized infant of diabetic mother: its cause and prevention.
In this study the birth weights of 431 infants of diabetic mothers of the Milan series have been compared with the birth weights of infants of a control group. The averages and the centile distributions of weights of infants of gestational diabetic mothers (Class A) and of diabetic mothers without vascular complications (Classes B and C) did not differ substantially from those of control newborns (table I, figure 1). This confirms the clinical indication, based on the hyperglycemia-hyperinsulinism theory that fetal macrosomia can be prevented provided maternal metabolism is strictly controlled. ⋯ The risk of fetal growth retardation in Class E has not been remarked upon in the literature, since pathology of pelvic vessels is usually disregarded and the patients remain undifferentiated among Classes A-C. The possibility to prevent fetal macrosomia with a strict control of maternal diabetes has been questioned because of the lack of correlation between fetal macrosomia and the degree of maternal hyperglycemia and of fetal hyperinsulinism. We postulate that, if fetal hyperinsulinism causes hypoxia, as it does in experimental animals, the lack of correlation may be due to the fetal hyperinsulinism itself.