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Management of recurrent early pregnancy loss.

Recurrent pregnancy loss is a devastating health problem that affects many couples who are trying to establish a family. Evaluation depends on a number of factors, including the pattern of pregnancy loss, underlying medical disease and life-style issues. A detailed obstetric history, including gestational age at the time of death, ultrasound, pathology and cytogenetic results, is key in the evaluation and management of recurrent pregnancy loss. This complex reproductive disorder requires a multidisciplinary approach since genetic, endocrinologic, anatomic, immunologic, infectious, thrombophilic and iatrogenic factors may require evaluation and management. Monitoring of subsequent pregnancies requires close supportive care.

Abortion, Habitual↗

Equine abortion and stillbirth in central Kentucky during 1988 and 1989 foaling seasons.

Pathologic and microbiologic examinations were performed on 1,211 aborted equine fetuses, stillborn foals, and placentas from premature foals in central Kentucky during the 1988 and 1989 foaling seasons to determine the causes of reproductive loss in the mare. Placentitis (19.4%) and dystocia-perinatal asphyxia (19.5%) were the 2 most important causes of equine reproductive loss. The other causes (in decreasing order) were contracted foal syndrome and other congenital anomalies (8.5%), twinning (6.1%), improper separation of placenta (4.7%), torsion of umbilical cord (4.5%), placental edema (4.3%), equine herpesvirus abortion (3.3%), bacteremia (3.2%), fetal diarrhea (2.7%), other placental disorders (total of 6.0%), and miscellaneous causes (1.6%). A definitive diagnosis was not established in 16.9% of the cases submitted. Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Escherichia coli, Leptospira spp., and a nocardioform actinomycete were organisms most frequently associated with bacterial placentitis, and Aspergillus spp. was the fungus most often noted in mycotic placentitis. No viral placentitis was noticed in this series. Dystocia-perinatal asphyxia was mostly associated with large foals, maiden mares, unattended deliveries, and malpresentations. The results of this study indicate that in central Kentucky, the noninfectious causes of equine reproductive loss outnumber the infectious causes by an approximate ratio of 2:1, placental disorders are slightly more prevalent than nonplacental disorders, Leptospira spp. and a nocardioform actinomycete are 2 new important abortifacient bacteria in the mare, the occurrence of contracted foal syndrome is unusually frequent, the incidence of twin abortion has sharply declined, and torsion of the umbilical cord is an important cause of abortion in the mare.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

The Dalkon Shield controversy. Structural and bacteriological studies of IUD tails.

The recent report of 209 cases of septic spontaneous abortion and 11 maternal deaths in the United States in women using the Dalkon Shield intrauterine device (IUD) raised the question about a possible causal relationship between the IUD and pelvic sepsis. It is essential to determine whether or not this sipsis is unique to the Dalkon Shield or generic to all types of IUDs. Our studies permit the conclusion that the tail of the Dalkon Shield is structurally and functionally different from the tails of the four other IUDs tested. The unique characteristics of the Dalkon tail theoretically could provide a mechanism whereby pathogenic bacteria from the vagina enter the uterine cavity and cause sepsis.

Abortion, Septic↗

Screening for vaginal shedding of cytomegalovirus in healthy pregnant women using real-time PCR: correlation of CMV in the vagina and adverse outcome of pregnancy.

The impact of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection of the genital tract during pregnancy on adverse pregnancy outcomes is not understood fully. A real-time PCR assay was used to determine vaginal shedding of CMV in 993 healthy pregnant Japanese women and the results were compared with the outcome of pregnancy. CMV DNA was detected in 76 (7.7%) of the women. The outcome of pregnancy could be determined finally in 848 women, of whom 60 (7.1%) were CMV positive. The carriers of CMV had an increased miscarriage rate (RR 6.96, 95% CI 2.04-23.84, P < 0.01). These findings suggest that latent genital tract CMV infection predisposes to adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Embryonic malformations in a case of intrauterine parvovirus B19 infection.

An incomplete embryo of 9 weeks development from a woman infected by human parvovirus B19 during early pregnancy was histologically examined. B19-DNA was detected in both embryonic and placental tissue by dot-blot hybridization. Focal vascular endothelial damage was found throughout the entire embryo and placenta together with mononuclear infiltrations around the vessels. In the placenta these mononuclear cells belonged for the greater part to the cytotoxic and/or suppressor T-cell group. One eye showed lens abnormalities and retinal folds. The other eye was microphthalmic and aphakic and showed dysplasia of the sclera, anterior segment, and retina. The skeletal muscle cells displayed a general eosinophilic degeneration. Focally, similar changes were found in heart muscle and smooth muscle tissue. In several tissues pathologic effects at a cellular level were noted, as intranuclear vacuole-like inclusions and nuclear ballooning. On the basis of this study it is concluded that human parvovirus B19 may affect several fetal tissues and may even have teratological effects on a developing human embryo.

Abortion, Legal↗

Amniotic fluid tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1 in a rabbit model of bacterially induced preterm pregnancy loss.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether the cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 alpha, and interleukin-1 beta were produced in the amniotic fluid of the rabbit after intracervical inoculation with Escherichia coli. STUDY DESIGN: Timed pregnant rabbits on day 21 (70% of gestation) were inoculated with a hysteroscope intracervically with 10(4) to 10(5) colony-forming units Escherichia coli or sterile saline solution. Escherichia coli-inoculated animals (N = 16) were put to death at 4, 8, 12, and 16 hours after inoculation. Control animals (N = 6) were put to death at similar intervals. At death, cultures were taken from endometrium, amniotic fluid, peritoneum, and blood. Amniotic fluid was collected and assayed for tumor necrosis factor bioactivity by a modified fibroblast cytotoxic assay in L929 cells, for interleukin-1 alpha, and interleukin-1 beta with a specific radioimmunoassay, and for prostaglandin E2 and prostaglandin F2 alpha by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Levels of amniotic fluid tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 alpha, and interleukin-1 beta were elevated as early as 4 hours after inoculation in some animals and by 12 to 16 hours after inoculation in all. Levels of all three cytokines correlated significantly with time from intracervical inoculation with Escherichia coli (p < 0.05). Levels of amniotic fluid prostaglandin E2 and prostaglandin F2 alpha correlated significantly with time from intracervical inoculation with Escherichia coli (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta, prostaglandin E2 and prostaglandin F2 alpha are elevated in the amniotic fluid of rabbits after intracervical inoculation with Escherichia coli. Similarity exists between elevations of amniotic fluid cytokines in this model and in cases of intraamniotic infection and preterm labor unresponsive to tocolytics in humans. Modulation of cytokines may offer a strategy for improvement of outcome in this experimental model of infection-induced pregnancy loss.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Efficacy of strain RB51 vaccine in heifers against experimental brucellosis.

With the goal of providing an additional tool for controlling bovine brucellosis in Brazil and evaluating the full calf dose in adult cattle, the efficacy of the rough Brucella abortus strain RB51 vaccine was tested in heifers. Thirty-three females of approximately 24 months of age were divided in two groups: one group (n=20) received the RB51 vaccine and the other group (n=13) were used as non-vaccinated control. Animals in the vaccinated group were split in two sub-groups. One sub-group (n=12) was vaccinated subcutaneously with 1.5x10(10) colony forming units (CFU) of RB51 at Day 0 of the experiment and the other sub-group (n=8) was vaccinated subcutaneously with 1.6x10(10) CFU of RB51 at 60 days of gestation (Day 260 of the experiment). All cattle were challenged between 6 and 7 months of pregnancy with 3x10(8) CFU of the virulent strain 2308 of B. abortus by the conjunctival route. Vaccination with RB51 vaccine did not result in the production of any antibodies against the O-side chain of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), as measured by conventional serological tests (rose bengal plate agglutination test (RBPAT), standard tube agglutination test (STAT), and 2-mercaptoethanol test (2ME)). A total of 25% cumulative incidence of abortions was found in the vaccinated group, whereas in the control group the cumulative incidence was 62%. B. abortus RB51 was not isolated from any sample, and no abortions were produced by RB51 vaccination of females at 60 days of pregnancy. The results indicate that vaccination with RB51 prevented 59.4% of abortions, 58.6% of cow infections, and 61.0% of fetal infections. The relative risk (RR) revealed that non-vaccinated animals have 2.462 (95% CI 1.029-5.889) times higher risk of aborting than RB51-vaccinated animals.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of intrauterine human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection on pregnancy outcomes and infant development. METHODS: The study group consisted of the HCMV-IgM-positive offspring of 75 pregnant women, and a control group of the non-infected offspring of 73 pregnant women. Chorionic villi, amnionic fluid, and umbilical blood were obtained to detect HCMV-late mRNA with a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. The pregnancy outcomes were followed up. For all offspring, neurological development was evaluated with neurosonography, audiologic development with the brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP), and psychomotor development with the Beyley Scale of Infant Development (BSID). RESULTS: In the study group the positive rate of late mRNA was 50% in the chorionic villi and 67.65% in the amnionic fluid and the umbilical blood; the incidence of abnormal pregnancy outcomes (abortion, preterm delivery, stillbirth, etc.) was much higher than in the control group (40% vs. 6.57%; chi(2)=24.06; P=0.001); the abnormal rate of neurosonography results at birth and 3 months after birth was higher in the study group than in the control group (P<0.05), as were BAEP values 4 months after birth (chi(2)=8.960; P=0.003). Scores for the Infant Mental Development Index (MDI) were apparently lower than in the control group. When congenitally infected children were tested at the age of 5.5-6.5 years with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), their rate of mental retardation was still found to be approximately 20%. CONCLUSIONS: Intrauterine HCMV infection is closely related to abnormal pregnancy outcomes, infant neurological damage, mental retardation, and hearing loss.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Pregnancy-associated glycoprotein levels in pregnant goats inoculated with Toxoplasma gondii or Listeria monocytogenes: a retrospective study.

The pregnancy-associated glycoprotein (PAG) concentration profiles of goats that had been experimentally inoculated with either Toxoplasma gondii or Listeria monocytogenes are described. All goats were examined regularly by ultrasonography. In T. gondii-infected females (n = 5), a slow decrease of PAG was observed throughout a period of 55 to 74 d after inoculation. Afterwards, the goats either aborted (n = 4) or kidded 1 dead and 1 weak fetus (n = 1). In L. monocytogenes-infected females (n = 8), a marked decrease of PAG was observed from the day of inoculation. Abortion occurred within 9 to 11 d post inoculation (n = 7). Only 1 goat kidded a healthy fetus.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

[Chikungunya infection in pregnancy: Evidence for intrauterine infection in pregnant women and vertical transmission in the parturient. Survey of the Reunion Island outbreak].

PURPOSE: Since February 2005, an outbreak of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infections occurred in Reunion Island. It is transmitted by the Aedes albopictus mosquito. Neonatal cases observations suggest possible fetal transmission during pregnancy. MATERIAL [corrected] AND METHODS. Observations made in 160 pregnant mothers infected by CHIKV between June 1, 2005 and February 28, 2006, in the south of Reunion island were recorded. RESULTS: Three of nine miscarriages before 22 weeks of gestation could be attributed to the virus. 3,829 births took place during this time. Among the 151 infected women, 118 were viremia negative at delivery, and none of the newborns showed any damage. Among the 33 with positive viremia at delivery, 16 newborns (48.5%) presented neonatal Chikungunya. DISCUSSION: Though fetal contamination risks appear to be rare before 22 weeks of gestation, they are potentially dangerous. After 22 weeks gestation, newborns infection occurs if the mother is viremia positive at delivery. Transplacental transmission is suspected, but the pathogenic mechanism remains unknown.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Leptospirosis as a cause of reproductive failure.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by members of the genus Leptospira. Veterinarians' perceptions of leptospirosis as a disease of domestic animals has undergone considerable modification in the past decade or so because they have increasingly appreciated the role of the host-maintained leptospires as causes of reproductive wastage in their respective host species kept under modern intensive management systems.

Abortion, Veterinary↗