Prenatal diagnosis of gastrointestinal obstruction: A correlation between prenatal ultrasonic findings and postnatal operative findings

The impact of prenatal sonographic diagnosis of oesophageal and gastrointestinal obstructions has been analysed over a 10-year period. Three groups of patients were evaluated. The first group consisted of 46 newborns with abnormal prenatal sonogratns, 41 of which were confirmed to have intestinal obstruction postnatally. The second group consisted of 17 neonates with normal prenatal sonograms who had intestinal obstruction postnatally. The third group included 56 newborns who did not undergo a prenatal sonogram but who had intestinal obstruction confirmed at surgery. Polyhydramnios without the appearance of a stomach on ultrasound was diagnostic of pure oesophageal atresia. Polyhydramnios with intestinal dilation was diagnostic of intestinal obstruction. Although surgery was performed earlier in the infants diagnosed prenatally with ultrasound, mortality was no less than in the group that did not undergo a prenatal sonogram, probably because of the high incidence of associated anomalies.     

Normal development in two six-year-old boys born after prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 20 mosaicism

Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 20 mosaicism was made in two pregnancies by chromosome analysis of cultured amniotic fluid cells. In both cases, the pregnancy continued to term and a healthy male infant was delivered. Regular assessments up to the age of 6-5 years revealed normal physical and intellectual development in both children.     

Exclusion of citrullinaemia in the first trimester of pregnancy by direct assay of argininosuccinate synthetase in chorionic villi

Citrullinaemia was presumed to be excluded in a fetus at risk by the direct assay of argininosuccinate synthetase in chorionic villi. The diagnosis was confirmed after amniocentesis by normal argininosuccinate synthetase activity in the cultured amniotic fluid cells and by a normal citrulline concentration in the amniotic fluid. The prediction of a normal fetus was confirmed at term by the birth of a non-citrullinaemic boy.     

Amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein levels and prenatal diagnosis of autosomal trisomies

Pregnancies with fetal trisomy 21 have been associated with low amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein levels (AFAFP). This observation led to the suggestion that low AFAFP levels be used as a criterion for completion of a chromosomal analysis in patients who are not otherwise at increased risk for a fetal chromosome abnormality and in whom karyotyping might not have been completed for economic reasons. In order to assess the usefulness of such criteria, we reviewed the AFAFP levels of 90 cases of fetal trisomy 21, 23 cases of trisomy 18, and 10 cases of trisomy 13. These were compared with 2400 control samples with normal chromosome constitution. AFAFP levels were generally lower in pregnancies with trisomy 21, showing a median value of 0·72 MoM. However, 40 per cent of the trisomy 21 samples had AFAFP values greater than 0·8 MoM and 20 per cent were over 1·0 MoM. These data imply that over 50 per cent of Down syndrome cases might have been missed using a cut-off level of 0·70 MoM for completion of chromosome analysis. Using a higher cut-off level will leave only a small percentage of samples unkaryotyped. The distribution of AFP levels in trisomy 13 and 18 is no different from controls; we therefore believe that fetal karyotyping should be completed in every amniotic fluid sample obtained.     

Manganese-oxidizing fungi and bacteria

The Science of Nature -     

The functionality of female reciprocal calls in the Iberian midwife toad (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Alytes cisternasii</Emphasis>): female-female acoustic competition?

Female midwife toads (genus Alytes) emit highly variable reciprocal calls of unclear function prior to and during courtship. In some species, female-female competition, expressed as physical fighting, has been reported. Males of Majorcan midwife toads (Alytes muletensis) show phonotactic response to female calls, and females of Iberian midwife toads (Alytes cisternasii) respond differently according to the male call characteristics. In this study, I test the hypothesis of female-female acoustic competition as an additional function of female reciprocal calls. Playback tests indicate that female calls are not clearly involved in female acoustic competition in the Iberian midwife toad, therefore female calls could be directed at males rather than towards competitive females.