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Nonpregnant Women (nonpregnant + woman)
Selected AbstractsPrevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders,DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 3 2009R. Louise Floyd Abstract Alcohol use among women of childbearing age is a leading, preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities in the United States. Although most women reduce their alcohol use upon pregnancy recognition, some women report drinking during pregnancy and others may continue to drink prior to realizing they are pregnant. These findings emphasize the need for effective prevention strategies for both pregnant and nonpregnant women who might be at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP). This report reviews evidence supporting alcohol screening and brief intervention as an effective approach to reducing problem drinking and AEPs that can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. In addition, this article highlights a recent report of the National Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect that describes effective interventions to reduce alcohol use and AEPs, and outlines recommendations on promoting and improving these strategies. Utilizing evidence-based alcohol screening tools and brief counseling for women at risk for an AEP and other effective population-based strategies can help achieve future alcohol-free pregnancies. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2009;15:193,199. [source] Borderline cystic tumors of the ovary: Gray-scale and color Doppler sonographic findingsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL ULTRASOUND, Issue 2 2002M. Angela Pascual MD Abstract Purpose The aim of the study was to determine the value of gray-scale and color Doppler sonography in distinguishing borderline cystic tumors (BCTs) from benign cysts and malignant tumors of the ovary. Methods The gray-scale and color Doppler sonographic features of 383 ovarian lesions in 374 nonpregnant women were retrospectively studied. Sonography was performed transvaginally for all but 7 lesions, which were imaged suprapubically. All of the lesions were surgically resected via laparoscopy or laparotomy. Results The histopathologic diagnoses were 27 BCTs, 35 ovarian carcinomas, and 321 benign cysts. Sonography diagnosed 24 (89%) of 27 BCTs as malignant lesions. Patients with BCTs, were younger than those with ovarian cancer (p < 0.001). BCTs showed intracystic papillae in 17 cases (63%), diffuse internal echoes in 11 (41%), intracystic septa in 8 (30%), a heterogeneous echo pattern in 7 (26%), and a solid pattern in 4 (15%). BCTs showed blood flow in 24 cases (89%) and lower pulsatility and resistance indices (RI) compared with benign lesions (p < 0.001 for both). Multivariate analysis revealed intracystic papillae as the only independent predictor of BCTs (p < 0.001). Conclusions When a cystic mass has papillae, this is the only abnormal finding detected by gray-scale transvaginal sonography, and color Doppler imaging shows low RI values within the mass, a BCT should be suspected. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 30:76,82, 2002; DOI 10.1002/jcu.10028 [source] Peritoneal and Peripheral B-1-Cell Populations in Patients with EndometriosisJOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY RESEARCH (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2000Dr. Fumihisa Chishima Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of B-1 cells in the peritoneal cavity and peripheral blood of patients with endometriosis. Materials and Methods: We examined 31 patients with endometriosis and 14 normal nonpregnant women. Peripheral blood cells and peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) were stained with FITC or PE-labeled anti-CD5/CD19 monoclonal antibodies. Immunofluorescence analysis was performed using a flow cytometer. The significance of differences between the patient and control groups was determined by the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. Results: There was no significant difference in the percentages of B-1 cells in the peripheral blood of women with and without endometriosis (median, 22.7%; range, 4.7,92.3% vs median, 20.05%; range, 11.1,12.6%, respectively). Endometriosis patients with antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) demonstrated significantly elevated B-1 cells compared to both endometriosis patients without ANAs and normal controls (p < 0.005 and p < 0.05, respectively). Endometriosis patients demonstrated significantly higher B-1 cell populations (B-1 cells/total B-cell ratio) in PECs than did non-endometriosis patients (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The peripheral B-1-cell population in patients with endometriosis is related to ANA production. B-1 cells might play important roles in the development of endometriosis through autoantibody production. [source] Oxidative stress of the newborn in the pre- and postnatal period and the clinical utility of melatoninJOURNAL OF PINEAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009Eloisa Gitto Abstract:, Newborns, and especially those delivered preterm, are probably more prone to oxidative stress than individuals later in life. Also during pregnancy, increased oxygen demand augments the rate of production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and women, even with normal pregnancies, experience elevated oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation compared with nonpregnant women. Also, there appears to be an increase in ROS generation in the placenta of pre-eclamptic women. In comparison with healthy adults, newborn infants have lower levels of plasma antioxidants such as vitamin E, ,-carotene, and sulphydryl groups, lower levels of plasma metal binding proteins including ceruloplasmin and transferrin, and reduced activity of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase. This review summarizes conditions of newborns where there is elevated oxidative stress. Included in this group of conditions is asphyxia, respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis and the review also summarizes the literature related to clinical trials of antioxidant therapies and of melatonin, a highly effective antioxidant and free radical scavenger. The authors document there is general agreement that short-term melatonin therapy may be highly effective and that it has a remarkably benign safety profile, even when neonates are treated with pharmacological doses. Significant complications with long-term melatonin therapy in children and adults also have not been reported. None of the animal studies of maternal melatonin treatment or in postnatal life have shown any treatment-related side effects. The authors conclude that treatment with melatonin might result in a wide range of health benefits, improved quality of life and reduced healthcare costs and may help reduce complications in the neonatal period. [source] Aetiology, clinical course and outcome of sporadic acute viral hepatitis in pregnancy,JOURNAL OF VIRAL HEPATITIS, Issue 1 2003M. S. Khuroo summary. Hepatitis E causes large-scale epidemics in endemic areas. The disease, during epidemics, has increased incidence and severity in pregnant women. Sporadic acute viral hepatitis (AVH) is common in endemic areas. The relationship of sporadic AVH and pregnancy has not been well studied. Over a 3-year period we prospectively studied 76 pregnant women and 337 non-pregnant women of childbearing age with sporadic acute viral hepatitis for aetiology, clinical course and outcome of disease. The aetiology in sporadic AVH was hepatitis A virus (HAV) in six (1.5%), hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 62 (15%), hepatitis C virus (HCV) in seven (1.7%), hepatitis D virus (HDV) co-infection in six (1.5%), hepatitis E virus (HEV) in 205 (49.6%), and hepatitis non-A-to-E (HNAE) in 127 (30.7%). Sixty-five (85.5%) pregnant women and 140 (41.5%) nonpregnant women had hepatitis E. The proportion of pregnant women was 31.7% in HEV group and 5.3% in non-HEV group [P < 0.001; OR=8.3 (95%C1 4.2,16.3)]. The prevalence of HEV in pregnant women in first trimester (76.9%), second trimester (88.9%), third trimester (83.8%) and puerperium (100%) did not differ significantly (P=0.09). Forty-seven (61.8%) of the 76 pregnant women developed fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), 69.2% in HEV group and 10% in non-HEV group (P < 0.001). Thirty-four (10.1%) nonpregnant women developed fulminant hepatic failure, 10% in HEV group and 9.7% in non-HEV group (P=0.86). FHF had occurred in four (40%) of 10 patients with HE in first trimester as against 41 (74.5%) of 55 patients in second trimester and beyond (P=0.015). Amongst the major complications of fulminant hepatic failure, cerebral oedema (53.2%) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (21.3%) occurred more often in pregnant women than in nonpregnant women (29.4% and 2.8%; P=0.03 and 0.016, respectively) while infections occurred more often in nonpregnant women (36.1%) than in pregnant women (10.6%; P=0.003). Fifty (61.7%) patients with FHF died [25 (53.2%) pregnant women and 25 (69.5%) nonpregnant women (P=0.06)]. Cerebral oedema and HEV aetiology were independent variables of survival in patients with FHF. Patients with cerebral oedema had worse prognosis and patients with HEV aetiology had best chances of survival. Hence HEV was the most common cause of sporadic AVH in this endemic area. High proportion of pregnant women and increased severity of disease in pregnancy were limited to patients with hepatitis E. Sporadic AVH caused by agents other than HEV did not show any special predilection to or increased severity in pregnancy. FHF in pregnant women caused by HEV was an explosive disease with short pre- encephalopathy period, rapid development of cerebral oedema and high occurrence of disseminated intravascular coagulation and may represent a severe manifestation of a Schwartzmann-like phenomenon. [source] Malaria during pregnancy in endemic areas: A lens for examining maternal,fetal conflict,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2009Elizabeth T. Abrams Most of our knowledge about maternal,fetal conflict derives from the battle over scarce nutritional resources. How do other stressors like infectious diseases alter the maternal,fetal relationship? In this article, we use the example of malaria infection during pregnancy to explore the altered maternal,fetal relationship in the presence of an infectious disease. While adults living in regions endemic to Plasmodium falciparum malaria are generally immune, pregnant women experience significantly more frequent and severe infections. These infections generally resolve within a few days of birth and rarely cross the placenta, but the infants often experience poor birth outcomes, particularly low birth weight. This article summarizes what is known about the proximate, or physiological, mechanisms by which malaria causes more severe or frequent infections for pregnant versus nonpregnant women in endemic regions and then utilizes an evolutionary approach to focus on the altered maternal,fetal relationship during malaria-infected pregnancy. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Changes in serum immunity during pregnancyAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Elizabeth M. Miller Pregnancy requires a host of localized immune factors that allow the mother to tolerate the fetus. Changes in the mother's serum immunity during pregnancy are less well-known. To clarify these changes, 1,351 women from the NHANES 1999,2000 were analyzed with complex survey regression to test the effect of pregnancy on adaptive and innate immune markers. Adjusting for age and BMI, pregnant women had higher C-reactive protein levels and white blood cell counts and lower measles antibody titer and lymphocyte counts than nonpregnant women. This dual pattern of immunological changes supports the hypothesis that mothers will reduce the ability of the adaptive immune system to respond to infection while increasing the activity of innate immunity during pregnancy, maintaining immune function homeostasis. The function of these homeostatic immune responses is unknown. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Reference values for clinical chemistry tests during normal pregnancyBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 7 2008A Larsson Objective, Reference values are usually defined based on blood samples from healthy men or nonpregnant women. This is not optimal as many biological markers changes during pregnancy and adequate reference values are of importance for correct clinical decisions. There are only few studies on the variations of laboratory tests during normal pregnancies, especially during the first two trimesters. It is thus a need to establish such reference values. Design, Longitudinal study of laboratory markers in normal pregnancies. Setting, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. Population, Healthy pregnant females. Methods, We have studied 25 frequently used laboratory tests during 52 normal pregnancies. Each woman was sampled up to nine times and the samples were divided according to collection time into the following groups: gestational week 7,17; week 17,24; week 24, 28; week 28,31; week 31,34; week 34,38; predelivery (0,2 weeks before delivery) and postpartum (>6 weeks after delivery). The 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles for these markers were calculated according to the recommendations of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry on the statistical treatment of reference values. Results, Reference intervals are reported for plasma alanine aminotransferase, albumin, alkaline phosphatase, pancreas amylase, apolipoprotein A1, apolipoprotein B, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, calcium, chloride, creatinine, cystatin C, ferritin, ,-glutamyltransferase, iron, lactate dehydrogenase, magnesium, phosphate, potassium, sodium, transferrin, triglycerides, thyroid-stimulating hormone, urate and urea during these pregnancy periods. Conclusions, Most of the analytes change during normal pregnancy. It is thus of importance to use special reference values during pregnancy. [source] Serum CA125 at 11,14 weeks of gestation in women with morphologically normal ovariesBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 5 2000Naaila Aslam Research Fellow In a number of pregnant women ovarian cysts are found incidentally during the routine first trimester scan. These cysts may pose diagnostic difficulties, and the measurement of serum CA125 levels can be used to aid management. In this study we measured maternal serum CA125 levels in 188 women with uncomplicated pregnancies between 11,14 weeks of gestation. All women had morphologically normal ovaries observed on ultrasound examination. The median serum CA125 levels were 23.4 U/mL (range 2.2,166.3 U/mL, 95% reference interval 5.28,70.15) and did not change significantly with gestation. We conclude that CA125 levels are increased at 11,14 weeks of gestation and cut off values which are used to assess the nature of ovarian cysts in nonpregnant women cannot be applied to pregnant women at this gestation. [source] Pregnancy and early-stage melanoma,CANCER, Issue 9 2003Deepu Daryanani M.D. Abstract BACKGROUND Cutaneous melanomas are aggressive tumors with an unpredictable biologic behavior. It has been suggested that women who present with melanoma during pregnancy have a worse prognosis due to more aggressive behavior of the melanoma. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the long-term effect of pregnancy on disease progression in women with Stage I,II melanoma. METHODS From 1965 to 2001, 46 pregnant women were treated for a Stage I,II melanoma at the University Medical Center Groningen. These patients were compared with an age-matched and gender-matched control group (nonpregnant) of 368 women with Stage I,II melanoma. The patients were staged according to the 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM classification system for melanoma. The 10-year disease-free survival (DFS) and 10-year overall survival (OS) rates were calculated using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS The median age of patients in the pregnant group was 30 years (range, 18,46 years), and the median age of patients in the nonpregnant group was 36 years (range, 17,45 years). The median follow-up was 109 months (range, 1,356 months). Pregnant patients presented more often with thicker melanomas (median, 2.0 mm vs. 1.7 mm; not statistically significant). No differences with regard to tumor location, histologic subtype, tumor ulceration, or vascular invasion were detected between the pregnant group and the nonpregnant group. There was no statistical difference in the 10-year DFS and 10-year OS rates between the two groups. The 10-year DFS rates for patients in the pregnant and nonpregnant groups, respectively, were 88% versus 86% for patients with Stage I melanoma and 67% versus 73% for patients with Stage II melanoma. The 10-year OS rates for patients in the pregnant and nonpregnant groups, respectively, were 94% versus 90% for patients with Stage I melanoma and 82% versus 81% for patients with Stage II melanoma. CONCLUSIONS Pregnancy does not appear to have an adverse, long-term effect on survival in patients with clinically localized melanoma. Further studies should address whether pregnant patients present with thicker lesions and/or whether they have decreased DFS compared with nonpregnant women. The prognosis for women with melanoma during pregnancy, as it relates to survival, still is dependent on tumor thickness and ulceration. Cancer 2003;97:2248,53. © 2003 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.11321 [source] | |||||||||||||