Improvement of high resolution ultrasound scan equipment, have enabled obstetricians to examine the fetus during first trimester in more detail than ever before. It is established that first trimester ultrasound scan is superior to second trimester scan in determining gestational age, risk assessment for chromosomal aneuploidy and chorionicity in multiple pregnancy1-3. Moreover, first trimester...

Normal pregnancy is associated with intense alterations in the maternal cardiovascular system. The aim of the present study was, to assess the influence of normal pregnancy on maternal central aortic pressures, arterial stiffness, and arterial wave reflection using non-invasive PC based cardiovascular risk analysis system (Periscope). The current study was conducted on 137 women with, normotens...

RATIONALE Symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) are common among pregnant women, and several studies link SDB symptoms with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. However, few prospective studies objectively measuring SDB during pregnancy have been performed. OBJECTIVES We performed a prospective cohort study examining risk factors for third trimester SDB in pregnant women. MEASU...

BACKGROUND First trimester Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protein A (PAPP-A) levels, routinely measured for aneuploidy screening, may predict development of preeclampsia. This study tests the hypothesis that first trimester PAPP-A levels correlate with soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) levels, an angiogenic marker associated with preeclampsia, throughout pregnancy. METHODS sFlt-1 level...

Results The expressions of B7-H1 and B7-H4 molecules were significantly higher on CD1c+ myeloid and BDCA-2+ plasmocytoid DCs in the first trimester of pregnancy when compared to the luteal phase of the ovarian cycle. Moreover, the expressions of B7-H1 molecule on CD1c+ DCs in the second trimester of normal pregnancy were significantly higher when compared to the first trimester. In the third tr...

A Biometrical study was conducted on the digestive tract of 35 foetuses of the one-humped camel collected from the Sokoto metropolitan abattoir, over a period of five months at different gestational ages. The approximate age of the foetuses was estimated from the crown vertebral rump length (CVRL) and samples were categorised into first, second and third trimester. The mean body weight of the f...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to quantify spontaneous first trimester miscarriage rates per woman among parous women. A vast amount of data has accumulated regarding miscarriage rates per recognized pregnancy as well as about recurrent miscarriage. This is the second study of miscarriage rates per woman in a parous population and the first study of recurrent and non-recurrent, sponta...

Objective: This study was designed to test the null hypothesis that first trimester ultrasound crown-rump length measurement for gestational age determination will result in no difference in the rate of induction of labor for postterm pregnancy, compared with second trimester biometry alone. Study design: Two hundred eighteen women were randomly assigned to receive either first trimester ultras...