Prenatal echocardiographic diagnosis of right atrial isomerism

A prenatal diagnosis of right atrial isomerism is often inferred through the recognition of a constellation of cardiac anomalies on the four-chamber view or by the detection of visceral heterotaxy and asplenia. However, the actual occurrence of discordance between the arrangement of the atria and thoracic and abdominal organs makes the identification of the morphology of both atrial appendages the only reliable way to make a final diagnosis of atrial isomerism. Three cases of right atrial isomerism with visceral heterotaxy and a complex cardiac defect, diagnosed in utero by cross-sectional and colour flow Doppler echocardiography, are reported. In all the patients, the right atrial isomerism was associated with an atrioventricular septal defect, a single aortic outlet from the right ventricle, and total anomalous venous return. The diagnosis of right atrial isomerism, always confirmed by neonatal re-evaluation and/or by post-mortem examination, was made through identifying two pyramidal atrial appendages in an echocardiographic transverse plane at the level of the atria and of the origin of the great arteries. This report demonstrates that a final intrauterine diagnosis of atrial isomerism is possible, whatever the visceral situs is.     

Prenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis of fetal cerebral ventriculitis associated with asymptomatic maternal cytomegalovirus infection

Cytomegalovirus is the most common cause of congenital viral infection. In utero infection is usually suspected in patients with growth-retarded fetuses or when maternal illness precipitates serological investigations. A case is presented where routine ultrasound examination at 30 weeks' gestation in an asymptomatic patient demonstrated mild fetal ventriculomegaly. Transvaginal ultrasound enabled the visualization of intraventricular adhesions and small periventricular cysts. The suspected diagnosis of in utero cytomegalovirus infection was confirmed by the presence of IgM antibodies in fetal blood and subsequently by isolation of the virus from the infant's urine. The presence of mild fetal ventriculomegaly should prompt transvaginal brain imaging.     

Prognosis of fetuses with a cystic hygroma

This paper reports our experience with 55 fetuses identified in utero to have a cystic hygroma. The outcome of fetuses with an isolated cystic hygroma, cystic hygroma with non-immune hydrops, and cystic hygroma with multiple anomalies was evaluated. Approximately two-thirds of karyotypes were aneuploid, and a strong association of septation and aneuploidy existed. Only five cases, four of which had isolated hygromas, came to term and resulted in live births. Two of these involved small non-septated lesions which resolved in utero.     

Chorionic mosaicism: Association with fetal loss but not with adverse perinatal outcome

Cytogenetic data from the United States NICHD collaborative study of chorionic villus sampling (CVS) were used to evaluate the clinical significance of chorionic mosaicism. The 10 754 patients with normal cytogenetic results were compared wtih 108 patients (1.0 per cent) with placental mosaicism and 181 patients (1.6 per cent) with pseudomosaicism. Of the pregnancies intended to continue, the pregnancy loss rate was significantly greater in patients with placental mosaicism than in the cytogenetically normal cohort (8.6 vs. 3.4 per cent, p <0.05). However, there was no difference in the frequencies of abruptio placenta, preterm labour or delivery, small-for-gestational-age newborns, pregnancy-induced hypertension, or neonates with Apgar scores less than 7.     

The changes in common carp blood after short-term zinc exposure

Blood zinc level, hematological parameters and blood cell morphology were evaluated in common carp immediately after 3 h exposure to 20 mg dm(-3) of zinc (Zn0), and in 24, 48 and 96 hours after the end of it (Zn24, Zn48, Zn96). Blood zinc level in the non-exposed fish was 8 mg dm(-3), reached a maximum of 20 mg dm(-3) in Zn48, while it dropped to 9 mg dm(-3) in Zn96. Zinc caused a stress reaction in fish indicated by an increase in hematocrit value in Zn0, and elevated plasma glucose level and trombocytosis which persisted until the end of the experiment. Zinc-exposed fish showed an increased frequency of abnormal erythrocytes, and a compensatory release of immature erythrocytes to the blood stream. In zinc-treated fish, leukocyte count initially increased and subsequently decreased significantly below the control level due to a drop in lymphocyte number. Lymphocyte viability was reduced, and abnormal lymphocytes appeared. A decreased count of juvenile neutrophiles, and reduced phagocyte activity also occurred. The results indicate possible zinc-induced disturbances in both specific and non-specific immune mechanisms.     

糖萜素对早期断奶仔猪血液生化指标及免疫机能的影响研究

本试验研究了添加糖萜素对早期断奶仔猪血液生化指标及免疫机能的影响．选用21日龄左右健康无病、体重基本一致的杜长大猪进行饲喂试验，随机分为5组，每组3个重复，每重复8头猪，自由采食和自由饮水．试验设计为：第Ⅰ组为对照组，第Ⅱ、Ⅲ组在每公斤基础日粮中分别加入250rag、500rag糖萜素，第Ⅳ、Ⅴ组在每公斤基础日粮中分别加入250mg糖萜素＋4mg黄霉素、4mg黄霉素，结果表明：①糖萜素与黄霉素单用及联用均能提高仔猪血清中’IP、GLO和G／A的值。而以第Ⅲ组的效果最好．②糖萜素与黄霉素单用及联用均能显著提高血清IgA（P〈0．01），与对照组相比分别提高43．21%、104．89％、73．21％、27．74％，IgG（P〈0．05）而对IgM无显著影响（P〉0．05），CD3均有一定程度的提高（P〉0．05）．③血清中BUN试验组比对照组分别提高2．67％、2．96％、2．8l％、2．52％，各试验组间差异不显著（P〉0．05），对血清中GLU影响不大．④血清中GOT、GPT、ALK（均有所提高，但差异不显著（P〉0．05），而LDH活性与对照组相比分别下降2．7l％、4．02％、2．96％、1．65％，糖萜素与黄霉素的联合应用表现一定的协同作用，但效果不显著．     

杜仲叶.粉对肉鸡生产性能及血液生化指标的影响

为探明杜仲叶粉对肉鸡生产性能及血液生化指标的影响，按0．5％、1％、1．5％、2％的比例在肉鸡的基础日粮中添加杜仲叶粉，以不添加杜仲叶粉作为对照，经60天饲养试验期后，对各组鸡的日增重、饲料报酬(增重与耗料之比)、胴体品质及血液生化指标进行检测，结果表明：杜仲叶粉能提高肉鸡饲料报酬，改善胴体品质，改善血液生化指标．     

中国健康青年女性全血比粘度参考值与地理因素的关系

收集了中国各地用毛细管法测定的健康青年女性全血比粘度参考值，并对其与地理因素的关系进行了研究，发现海拨高度是影响健康青年女性全血比粘度参考值最主要的因素，随着海拨高度的逐渐增大，健康青年女性全血比粘度参考值也在逐渐的增大，相关性很显著，推导出了一个回归方程，可以用回归方程估算某个地区的健康青年女性全血比粘度参考值．