Fetal diagnosis and therapy
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This case presents a woman with a fetus having a large hydrocephalus and other lethal malformations. The problem was how to avoid an unnecessary cesarean section at delivery because of the breech position of the baby. The solution was prenatal ultrasonographic-guided cephalocentesis after which a vaginal delivery could take place without any complications for the mother.
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Fetal. Diagn. Ther. · Sep 1997
Comparative StudyCardiovascular responses of goat fetuses to hypercapnia during extrauterine incubation using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of changes in fetal PaCO2 on circulatory functions without maternal influences. In 5 goat fetuses that were incubated using an extrauterine incubation system with arteriovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, fetal carotid arterial blood flow, heart rate, mean blood pressure, and serum catecholamine levels were determined under the conditions of several grades of hypercapnia without hypoxemia. The hypercapnia was induced gradually by decreasing the flow of gas to the membrane oxygenator located on the extracorporeal circulation system. ⋯ Although a slight increase was observed in the heart rate at the mild hypercapnia stage, severe hypercapnia induced bradycardia in all cases. The mean arterial pressure and rate of extracorporeal circulation were unchanged during hypercapnia. We found that cerebral blood flow increased due to hypercapnia's direct effect on the vascular system, but the response of the peripheral chemoreceptor to hypercapnia seemed to be attenuated in chronic stimulation because bradycardia was induced in chronic hypercapnia.