OBJECTIVE Maternal recreational drug use may be associated with the development of fetal malformations such as gastroschisis, brain and limb defects, the aetiology due to vascular disruption during organogenesis. Using forensic hair analysis we reported evidence of recreational drug use in 18% of women with a fetal gastroschisis. Here we investigate this association in a variety of fetal malfor...

OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate placental stiffness measured by acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography in pregnant women in the second trimester with a normal fetus versus those with structural anomalies and non-structural findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty pregnant women carrying a fetus with structural anomalies diagnosed sonographically at 18-28 weeks of gestation comprised...

Pulmonary function in a normal fetus is dependent upon maturation and maintenance of the biochemical synthesis of a distinct surface-active lipid. Two major pathways for the biosynthesis of this major surface-active lipid, dipalmitoyl lecithin, are described and relative activities of each pathway in human lung are discussed. In normal human lung, the CDP-choline path­ way is quantitatively mos...

Background: Fetal male gender may affect the progression of labor and could be a risk factor for labor arrest. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of fetus gender on labor curve.    Methods: In this cohort study, 1550 singleton term pregnant women in labor phase (either spontaneous or by induction) were enrolled. Results of regular cervical examination, dilation, length o...

Here we describe a case of a prenatal diagnosis of a male fetus that inherited the unstable allele from his full mutation mosaic mother (29, 160, >200 CGG repeats) reduced to a normal size range (19 CGG repeats). Haplotype analysis showed that the fetus 19 CGG repeats allele derived from the maternal unstable allele which was inherited from his maternal grandmother. No size mosaicism was detect...

Normal human placental metabolism has been studied in vivo by image localised 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy in 13 women with anterior placentas; five, however, were too fat for useful spectral signals to be obtained. Magnetic resonance spectra of good quality which were considered to have arisen from the placenta were obtained from seven women with uncomplicated pregnancies (median gestat...

This review covers ultrasound evaluation of the normal and abnormal placenta with clinical correlation. Normal placental function is essential for a healthy pregnancy outcome as well as for maternal, fetal, childhood, and adult health. Abnormal placental function may result in a compromised pregnancy, creating pathology for the fetus and mother alike. Despite the fact that placental anatomy, fu...