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Biomedical subjects

E Papiernik

Publications and source records attributed to E Papiernik.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

[Maternal mortality caused by hemorrhage in developing countries. What policy is proposed?].

Maternal mortality in the third world is fifty to two hundred times higher than in developed countries. Haemorrhage following birth or abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and a specific analysis of this can clarify the problems. The incidence of maternal death by haemorrhage is not clearly documented and fluctuates between 6 and 90 per cent. Patients predicted to be at high risk for haemorrhage in the third trimester should be automatically referred for a higher level of medical care. In fact, many cases of haemorrhage cannot be predicted and death depends on the rate of blood loss and on the pre-existing anaemia. Better nurses' and mid-wives' training, better ante natal care, and the treatment of anaemia should decrease maternal mortality.

Developing Countries↗

Spontaneous resolution of ectopic pregnancy.

Fourteen patients with ampullary tubal pregnancy confirmed by laparoscopy were initially managed conservatively. Serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels were measured daily and strict clinical monitoring performed. In nine patients (64%), the tubal pregnancy spontaneously resolved. In four cases (29%), surgery was ultimately necessary. One patient with a coexistent intra- and extrauterine pregnancy was also successfully managed conservatively. There was a high probability of spontaneous resolution of the pregnancy when the serum hCG level at diagnosis was less than 1000 mIU/mL. Hysterosalpingography was performed after the spontaneous resolution of the tubal pregnancies. Tubal patency was demonstrated in all six patients, and three are currently pregnant. We conclude that conservative therapy allows spontaneous resolution of certain types of ectopic pregnancy.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

[Prevention of prematurity: Haguenau perinatal survey, 1971-1985].

A preterm birth prevention program was instituted in France in the early 1970s. Its effectiveness has been assessed through a perinatal study in Haguenau. A relationship between prenatal care improvement and preterm birth rate decrease was noted, but a causal interpretation cannot be derived from such an observational study. However, some arguments do support this interpretation: no satisfactory alternative explanation (such as biases in pregnancy duration measurement, change in the composition of the population of pregnant women, or secular trend), a plausible causal pattern, and a dose-response relationship between prenatal care and preterm birth rate. The Haguenau study results can be applied to other French regions, but extrapolation to other countries would depend on their social, medical and cultural contexts.

Female↗

[Socio-economic aspects of abstention from work of pregnant women].

In pregnant women rest is essential to the prevention of some accidents at birth (e.g. prematurity). A survey of 357 women examined and delivered in the maternity department of hospital A. Béclère in 1984 shows that abstention from work is general and prolonged, irrespective of the degree of risk inherent in pregnancy: 50% of women have stopped work 7 weeks before their legal maternity leave. This wide prescription of rest seems to have been requested by the women themselves. Its financial cost to the Social security is negligible, but prescriptions for rest from work have probably not yet ceased to increase.

Female↗

[Maternal effects and perinatal safety of labetalol in the treatment of hypertension in pregnancy. Comparison with methyldopa in a randomized cooperative trial].

Labetalol was compared with methyldopa in a randomised trial involving 176 pregnant women with mild to moderate hypertension. Effective blood pressure control (diastolic pressure below 86 mmHg) was obtained in a similar proportion of mothers given labetalol or methyldopa, but the addition of a complementary treatment to achieve control was less frequently needed in the labetalol than in the methyldopa group (12/91 vs 22/85 p less than 0.05). Side effects were mild and resulted in discontinuation of the randomised treatment in 1 mother given labetalol. Pregnancy was terminated by intrauterine death in 4 mothers given methyldopa, and one neonate born to a patient allocated to labetalol died at day 1. The average birthweight and the proportion of premature delivery or of small for gestational age newborns were similar in both treatment groups. Heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and blood glucose did not differ between infants born to the mothers of the labetalol and the methyldopa groups, irrespective of gestational age at birth or birthweight. Blood pressure control is more frequently achieved in hypertensive pregnancies with labetalol than with methyldopa as a first line treatment. Labetalol is safe to the fetus and newborn and might offer a better prevention of intrauterine death than methyldopa.

Adult↗

[Marchiafava-Micheli syndrome and pregnancy].

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired clonal disorder characterized by sensitive populations of erythrocytes, granulocytes and platelets. PNH is a disease of young adults with a slight female predominance. Several complications of PNH during pregnancy, could be prevented; chronic anemia, folate and iron deficiency, deep vein thrombosis. We report seven pregnancies, six of which were successful in four patients. One pregnancy was terminated after 25 weeks by a fetal death during an acute hemolytic crisis. Diagnosis of PNH was made in the four patients before the pregnancy by the acidified serum lysis assay and the sucrose lysis assay. During puerperium, acute hemolytic crisis, most probably triggered by delivery, were observed in two patients. Thrombotic complications could be prevented by early initiation of an anticoagulant therapy after delivery. The only neonatal complication, observed in two cases was iso immune hemolytic anemia related to the multiple blood transfusions received before and during pregnancy. These results show that successful pregnancies are possible in PNH women when monitoring is especially close. To allow optimal fetal development, patients were transfused with saline-washed or frozen-thawed packed red-cells to prevent the precipitation of hemolysis, so that the hemoglobin level remained higher than 10 g/dl. During the whole pregnancy, patients had to be given dietary supplementation with folic acid and iron therapy whenever deficiency was demonstrated, under close surveillance of hemolysis. To prevent thrombotic complications during pregnancy, anticoagulant therapy was used if the patients had to be bedridden, or within 8 hours following delivery.

Adult↗

[Idiopathic autoimmune thrombopenic purpura and pregnancy].

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura can no longer be considered as incompatible with pregnancy provided that close surveillance is undertaken. However, the main risk (a possible intracranial hemorrhage) persists in the newborn when severe thrombocytopenia due to the placental transfer of maternal IgG has occurred. None of the maternal parameters is predictive of the fetal thrombocytopenia or of its magnitude. A platelet count on fetal blood obtained by in utero or scalp sampling allows the choice between vaginal delivery or cesarean section, to limit the risk of intracranial bleeding. In most cases i.v. IgG infusion allows rapid correction of severe thrombocytopenia in the newborn.

Autoimmune Diseases↗

Women's acceptance of a preterm birth prevention program.

A major modification in French national perinatal policy was proposed in 1970. Its primary aim was to reduce preterm births, and a specific program has been progressively applied to all pregnant women in France since 1971. Because the policy was introduced at a national level, it was possible to use a district hospital in Haguenau (northeastern France) as an observation site for measuring the effects of the change. A longitudinal study was begun in 1971 and continued for 12 years, during which time a total of 16,004 singleton pregnancies were followed. This article focuses on acceptance by the pregnant women in Haguenau in response to the new prenatal care proposals. A major reduction in preterm births is demonstrated, and the relationship between acceptance and observed changes in preterm birth is discussed. Certain time-related patterns were observed: it took time for the policy modification to be measurable; while the outcomes showed general improvement, results were closely related to the patient's social status; there were significant time-lag differences between social class groups with regard to acceptance of specific interventions.

Birth Weight↗

Precocious cervical ripening and preterm labor.

A group of 8303 women was studied to determine the timing of cervical ripening. It was confirmed that these signs of cervical change can be observed several weeks before preterm births. The precocious signs of external ripening can be recognized during a vaginal examination and may be useful in predicting preterm labor.

Cervix Uteri↗

Maturation signs of the cervix and prediction of preterm birth.

A prospective study was conducted on 7937 pregnancies, 4430 of which had prenatal visits before 37 weeks of gestation. Induced preterm deliveries were excluded (N = 40). Then the data was incorporated from the visits (cervix status, uterine contractions) as well as some common indicators of risk for preterm birth (mother's age, social status, obstetric antecedents, bleeding) into a predictive scoring system for spontaneous preterm labor. Different scores were computed according to both parity and to the timing during pregnancy when the signs were observed. It was found that approximatively 25% of the total preterm births were connected with the presence of at least one of three maturation signs of the uterine cervix (dilation of the internal os to 1 cm, cervical length less than 1 cm, and presence of painful uterine contractions).

Adolescent↗

[An example of the effect of research on perinatal mortality in Guadeloupe (1984-1985). I. Objectives and methodology].

Research with a view to action being taken was carried out in Guadeloupe in 1984 and 1985 to try to find out the causes of the high level of perinatal mortality which persists on the island before suggesting to the public health authorities what action to take. All the cases of perinatal mortality (above 500 g in weight) were looked at and analysed carefully according to a protocol that had been prepared. The events preceding the perinatal death were described and also the antenatal and intranatal as well as immediate post-natal care given to the children. A control case was studied for each case that had been registered and the same questionnaire was filled in. The present work shows the methodology used to carry out the enquiry and how it was organized with the collaboration of all the actors in the public health department as well as the doctors and the health authorities authorities.

Birth Weight↗

[Autoimmune thrombopenia and pregnancy. Value of counting scalp platelets].

Fetuses of mothers who have auto-immune thrombocytopenia are at risk in utero of having transitory thrombocytopenia. There is no maternal biological test that can predict the numbers of platelets in the fetus. This count of platelet numbers can be estimated from taking fetal blood from the scalp at the onset of labour, and if the count is less than 50 X 10(9) per litre a caesarean operation is indicated. The authors report a series of 23 pregnancies where the mother had auto-immune thrombocytopenia and where fetal scalp blood sampling was indicated. This series has been compared with a previous series of 14 pregnancies where scalp sampling was not carried out. There was no case of severe fetal thrombocytopenia after scalp sampling was carried out and where the best way of delivery could be predicted early enough in each case. The ease of taking the sample and the safety and reliability of it for estimating the degree of thrombocytopenia in the fetus and thus deciding the method of delivery makes us believe that this method should be used more frequently in cases of maternal thrombocytopenia that appear late in pregnancy.

Autoimmune Diseases↗

Prenatal care and the prevention of preterm delivery.

This paper reports the methods and results of an innovative program of prenatal care, designed to prevent preterm delivery in Clamart, France, during 1976-1981. Rates of preterm delivery among women who entered the prenatal care program early in pregnancy (and, thus, could derive full benefit of the program) were compared with those among two comparison groups: (1) women who entered the same program later in pregnancy; and (2) women who delivered in Paris. In the first comparison, women who entered the program early had significantly lower rates of preterm delivery than did women who entered later, even when stratified by various risk factors, and when high-risk women were eliminated altogether. In the second comparison, the early care group in Clamart did not exhibit the usual inverse relationship between socioeconomic status and rates of preterm delivery. The usual significant inverse relationship was found in the Clamart population as a whole, and in the Paris series.

Adolescent↗

Relationship between the characteristics of the menstrual cycle and congenital malformations in the human.

We have studied the characteristics of conceptional and pre-conceptional cycles in mothers of malformed infants. A comparison made with a control group of mothers of normal, term infants showed that for the former the hypothermic phase during the conceptional cycle was longer than for the latter (20.4 and 16.9 days, respectively). Moreover, the mothers of malformed infants showed a slower temperature rise (greater than 3 days) in 45% of cases, vs 28% in the controls. The menarche of the mothers of malformed infants occurs later (14.3 vs 12.8 years). They usually have long menstrual cycles and a bad obstetric and gynaecological history. The risk for congenital malformations is thus closely related to the length of the hypothermic phase and to a slow temperature rise in the conceptional cycle. Therefore we suggest that the preovulatory oocyte overripeness is one of the mechanisms of congenital malformation.

Body Temperature↗

A low rate of perinatal deaths for twin births.

A specific prenatal care program is proposed to prevent preterm deliveries in twin pregnancies, with ultrasound scanning, early work leave and home visits by midwives. A four-year study has been conducted on 197 pregnancies (160 early followed and booked and 37 late referred). It can be shown that early preterm births and very low birth weights are less frequent in the followed group than in published data, as well as in the late referred pregnancies. The total perinatal mortality rate is 25.6 per 1000 total births.

Delivery, Obstetric↗