Compression of ureter caused by a retained reservoir of penile prosthesis.

Routine removal of the reservoir in explanting a malfunctioning three-piece penile implant raises debates because that the retained reservoir has little risk of erosion and it often needs a second incision to remove the reservoir. We reported a case whose retained reservoir resulted in nonbacterial inflammation around it and caused an ipsilateral hydronephrosis.

Expression of connexin-43 and connexin-26 in the rat myometrium during pregnancy and labor is differentially regulated by mechanical and hormonal signals.

We investigated the effects of uterine stretch on the levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding the gap junction proteins connexin-43 (Cx-43) and connexin-26 (Cx-26) as well as the presence of gap junction plaques formed by Cx-43 within the myometrium. In nonpregnant ovariectomized rats, stretch of one uterine horn with a polyvinyl tube induced a significant increase in myometrial Cx-43 mRNA levels, an effect that was blocked by progesterone; no expression of Cx-26 was detected in the presence or absence of stretch. To investigate whether pregnancy and parturition modified the response to stretch, unilaterally pregnant rats underwent either sham operation or placement of a tube in the nongravid uterine horns. On day 20 of pregnancy, expression of Cx-43 mRNA in gravid horns was low, and stretch did not increase this level. Cx-26 mRNA expression was elevated at this time, but only in the gravid horns. Cx-43 mRNA was highly expressed in the myometrium of gravid horns during labor, but Cx-43 expression in sham-operated, nongravid horns remained low. In contrast, nongravid horns stretched with tubes expressed Cx-43 mRNA at levels similar to those in gravid horns. Levels of Cx-26 mRNA in gravid horns fell between days 20 and 23, and this was not altered by stretch. Punctate Cx-43 immunofluorescence (indicative of gap junction formation) also increased in the myometrium after uterine stretch and in gravid horns during labor. Our data demonstrate that differential mechanisms regulate the expression of Cx-43 and Cx-26 in the pregnant myometrium. Cx-43 expression during labor is dependent upon myometrial stretch under conditions of low progesterone. In contrast, Cx-26 expression during late pregnancy, although requiring the presence of the fetal/placental unit, does not require stretch of the myometrium.

Prenatal diagnosis of intracardiac rhabdomyoma: a case report.

We report on a case of intracardiac rhabdomyoma diagnosed prenatally from two-dimensional echocardiograms. The tumor was diagnosed by intrauterine echocardiography at the 38th week of gestation. Autopsy proved that the intracardiac tumor was a rhabdomyoma. Tuberous sclerosis spots in the brain tissue were also found.

Increased expression of the rat myometrial oxytocin receptor messenger ribonucleic acid during labor requires both mechanical and hormonal signals.

We investigated the expression of the mRNA encoding the oxytocin receptor (OTR) in rat myometrium throughout gestation and its regulation by progesterone and mechanical stretch. Using a semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction approach, OTR mRNA was found to increase abruptly at the onset of spontaneous labor at term. Progesterone (4 mg/day) starting on Day 20 of gestation blocked this increase. Ovariectomy on Day 17 induced preterm labor 96 h after surgery and a significant increase in myometrial OTR mRNA levels 48 and 96 h after surgery. Both preterm labor and the rise in myometrial OTR expression were blocked by progesterone. To investigate the effects of stretch on myometrial OTR mRNA expression, unilaterally pregnant rats underwent either sham operation or placement of a tube in the nongravid uterine horn to distend the myometrium. On Day 20, stretch had no effect on OTR expression in the nongravid horns. During labor, OTR mRNA was highly expressed in the gravid horns as well as the nongravid stretched horns. In contrast, the level remained low in the nongravid unstretched horns. These results indicate that expression of rat myometrial OTR mRNA during pregnancy and labor is regulated by coordinated interactions between mechanical and endocrine signals.

Expression and regulation of the messenger ribonucleic acid encoding the prostaglandin F(2alpha) receptor in the rat myometrium during pregnancy and labor.

OBJECTIVE: We examined expression of messenger ribonucleic acid encoding the prostaglandin F(2alpha) receptor in the rat myometrium throughout late gestation and its regulation by progesterone and mechanical stretch. STUDY DESIGN: Normal pregnant rats were killed on gestational day 15, 22, or 23 (during labor) or 1 day post partum. The effects of progesterone on prostaglandin F(2alpha) receptor messenger ribonucleic acid levels were investigated by daily injections of progesterone (4 mg) from day 20 of normal gestation or from day 17 in rats bilaterally ovariectomized on day 17. To investigate the effects of myometrial stretch, unilaterally pregnant rats underwent either sham surgery or placement of a polyvinyl tube 3 mm in diameter in the nongravid uterine horn on day 15 or 18 and were killed 5 days later. Prostaglandin F(2alpha) receptor messenger ribonucleic acid levels in the myometrium were determined by a semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method. RESULTS: Myometrial prostaglandin F(2alpha) receptor messenger ribonucleic acid levels significantly increased during both term and ovariectomy-induced preterm labor. This increase was blocked by progesterone. In rats with unilateral pregnancies prostaglandin F(2alpha) receptor messenger ribonucleic acid levels in the nongravid horns were similar to those in the contralateral gravid horns on day 20 and during labor regardless of whether they were stretched by a 3-mm tube. CONCLUSION: Increased myometrial expression of prostaglandin F(2alpha) receptor messenger ribonucleic acid during term and preterm labor is temporally associated with progesterone withdrawal but is not dependent on mechanical stretch of the myometrium.