Neonatal lung function following mid-trimester amniocentesis

Three hundred and fifty-four women who underwent midtrimester genetic amniocentesis were matched for age, parity, indication, and smoking history, with an equivalent number of women who had declined the procedure, for the purpose of comparing the neonatal respiratory status of their offspring. There was no evidence that the infants exposed to genetic amniocentesis were compromised.     

直接法测定大气中的非甲烷烃

介绍了在２个监测点，用直接法测定大气中的非甲烷烃。测定方法的检出限可达０．００６５ｍｇ／ｍ＾３，在线性范围０－１０ｍｇ／ｍ＾３时，线性相关系数为０．９９９５，相对标准焦虑差为２．８％。结果表明，由于大气逆温层、工业排放源、汽车排气对非甲烷烃的浓度变化产生影响，其日变化曲线呈双峰形。     

Characteristics of phosphorus chemistry and its geographical distribution in the Haihe River valley,North China

ＣｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｉｓｔｉｃｓｏｆｐｈｏｓｐｈｏｒｕｓｃｈｅｍｉｓｔｒｙａｎｄｉｔｓｇｅｏｇｒａｐｈｉｃａｌｄｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｉｏｎｉｎｔｈｅＨａｉｈｅＲｉｖｅｒｖａｌｌｅｙ，ＮｏｒｔｈＣｈｉｎａＪｉａｎｇＧａｏｍｉｎｇ；ＨｕａｎｇＹｉｎｘｉａｏ；Ｌ...     

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.     

Duration of vaginal bleeding and trisomy at prenatal diagnosis

In the case-control study of 118 women with autosomal trisomy identified at prenatal diagnosis and their 442 karyotypically normal matched controls, we found that there was no overall association between risk of trisomy and the presence of vaginal bleeding during pregnancy. However, a lengthy duration of bleeding appears to predict increased risk of trisorny.     

Chorionic villus culture for prenatal diagnosis of chromosome defects: Reduction of the long-term cultivation time

We report in detail two series of chorionic villus cultivation for prenatal chromosomal diagnosis. Chorionic villi were sampled from both first- and second-trimester pregnancies. One hundred cultures were treated with trypsin–EDTA for 2 h and collagenase overnight, (method A) and 100 were treated with trypsin–EDTA for 1 h and collagenase for 2 h (method B). Using short-term enzymatic digestion, the cultivation time was reduced from 14 days to 6 days. Sufficient amounts of metaphases of good quality were present in 93 per cent of primary cultures harvested in situ, whereas enough metaphases of sufficiently good quality were in most cases present only after subcultivation of the cultures using method A. The decrease in cultivation time obtained is probably due to a higher yield of viable cells in monocellular suspension, an increased attachment efficiency, and a more rapid attachment of single cells (within 24 h).     

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.