Screening for Down syndrome has evolved significantly over the last number of years. Much research has been presented describing sonographic features that may be useful for the prenatal detection of Down syndrome, ranging from second trimester “soft markers” such as short femur, nuchal fold enlargement, or echogenic intracardiac foci, to first trimester features such as increased nuchal translucency or absent fetal nose bone.
It has previously been argued that “prenatal informed consent for sonogram be accepted as an indication for the prudent use of obstetric ultrasonography performed by qualified personnel.” We extend this argument to the use of ultrasound screening for aneuploidy in the first trimester.
Ovulation induction is based on the administration of gonadotropins in order to enhance fertility. Daily administration of the drug causes a supra-physiological increase in serum FSH leading to the recruitment of a larger cohort of follicles, further causes their growth and development, and finally, triggering ovulation of usually more than one follicle.
Upon hospital discharge it is not unusual for mothers of preterm infants to continue to meet all or most of their infants' nutritional needs through bottle feedings of expressed breast milk (EBM) because of infants' physiological immaturity and maternal concerns with an inadequacy of milk supply.
Once you are diagnosed as having gestational diabetes, you and your health care providers will want to know more about your day-to-day blood sugar levels.
Approximately 3 to 5 percent of all pregnant women in the United States are diagnosed as having gestational diabetes. These women and their families have many questions about this disorder.
Perinatal outcomes differ by week of gestational age. However, it appears that how measures to examine these outcomes vary among various studies. The current paper explores how perinatal complications are reported and how they might differ when different denominators, numerators, and comparison groups are utilized.
A range of strategies have been adopted to prevent early onset Group B Streptococcal (EOGBS) sepsis, as a consequence of Group B Streptococcal (GBS) vertically acquired infection.
The oviduct is an exquisitely designed organ that functions in picking-up ovulated oocytes, transporting gametes in opposite directions to the site of fertilization, providing a suitable environment for fertilization and early development, and transporting preimplantation embryos to the uterus.
Maternal obesity and pre-pregnancy diabetes mellitus, features of the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn), are individual risk factors for neural tube defects (NTD). Whether they, in combination with additional features of MetSyn, alter this risk is not known.
Accurate diagnosis of congenital anomalies in the first trimester and early second trimester through the use of the transvaginal scan has been variously reported in the literature since the early 1990s. The feasibility of screening programmes for congenital abnormalities in the first trimester has also been recently reviewed by Chitty and Pandya.
Chondroectodermal dysplasia, or Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, is an autosomal recessive disorder with an incidence of approximately 1 out of 150,000 live births. A higher prevalence has been reported among certain populations such as the Amish and the Arabs of the Gaza strip.
Seckel Syndrome is a rare (
Pentalogy of Cantrell is a rare congenital anomaly associated with midline defects involving the chest, sternum, heart, diaphragm, and abdominal wall. This may include ectopia cordis, diaphragmatic hernia, and omphalocele.
Limb-body wall complex refers to a rare combination of disruptive and lethal abnormalities which start early in the gestational process. Abnormalities commonly associated with this disorder include cranio-facial abnormalities, scoliosis, ventral body wall defect (thoraco-abdominoschisis), limb deformations, short umbilical cord, and others.
Women with cystic fibrosis can have fertility treatment to help them have babies without any long-term adverse effects on either themselves or their children, according to new research presented at the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam today (Tuesday).
Women who have a diminished number of eggs in their ovaries, either because they are older or for some other reason such as ovarian surgery, may be more at risk of a trisomic pregnancy than women with an ovarian reserve within the normal, fertile range.
One-step screening for both genetic and chromosomal abnormalities has come a stage closer as scientists announced that an embryo test they have been developing has successfully screened cells taken from spare embryos that were known to have cystic fibrosis.
Transferring just one embryo at a time to a woman’s womb after embryos have undergone preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and freezing at the blastocyst stage has become a real option after researchers achieved pregnancy rates that were as good as those for blastocysts that had not had a cell removed for PGD before freezing.
A new test examining chromosomes in human eggs a few hours after fertilisation can identify those that are capable of forming a healthy baby, a researcher told the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology on 29 June.
A new technique for transplanting the ovaries of women who have lost their fertility as a result of cancer treatment was outlined to the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology on Monday 29 June.
Analysis of the longest running ICSI programme in the United States has found reassuring evidence that babies born from frozen embryos fertilised via ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) do just as well as those born from frozen embryos fertilised via standard IVF treatment.
The largest study to date of endometriosis in pregnant women has found that the condition is a major risk factor for premature birth, the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today (Wednesday July 1).
Researchers have found evidence that chronic disease in either a mother or father can create unfavourable conditions in the womb that are associated with the development of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in daughters.
Until now there has been no evidence-based consensus amongst fertility specialists as to whether or not men should refrain from sex for a few days before attempting to conceive with their partner, either spontaneously or via assisted reproduction.
