A case of non-immune hydrops fetalis with congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the left lung in a twin.

Hydrops fetalis is a rare condition that occurs in one out of every 1,400-4,000 pregnancies. There are two types, immune and non-immune. It can be caused by a maternal-fetal incompatibility due to the Rh factor or, more rarely, the Kell factor or due to other antigens to red corpuscles. Non-immune types of hydrops have a complex multiform pathogenesis and in 50% of the cases they are of idiopathic nature. The causes that could determine non-immune hydrops are manifold and in 50% of the cases they are of an idiopathic nature. Independently of the clinical condition, the presented case could be classified in those forms of pathogenesis in which there is the presence of a congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CAM), not encountered in the fetal ultrasound performed at the sixteenth week of pregnancy. The particularity of our case is due to the association of the fetal hydrops of the CAM type in only one of the two twins. The presented case is classified in those forms of hydrops that are expressed with a clinical trend towards a worse prognosis, characterized by the intrauterine death of the fetus or the birth of a hydropic fetus that does not survive because of respiratory insufficiency and cardiocirculatory collapse.

[Echography of the hip in premature infants]. / Ecografia dell'anca nel prematuro.

The authors report the data relative to 50 preterm infants with gestational age less than or equal to 34 weeks. The newborns were studied sequentially with clinical and US examination from February 28, 1989 to March 23, 1990 in order to exclude hip dysplasia or dislocation. US examination was carried out according to Graf's technique. All the newborns had another clinical examination at one year of age in order to evaluate their normal walking. Risk factors had poor significance in the studied group of infants.

[Surfactant and ambroxol in the therapy of idiopathic respiratory syndrome in newborn infants]. / Surfactant e ambroxol nella terapia della sindrome respiratoria idiopatica del neonato.

The Authors have carried out a study on 30 newborns, affected by idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS), divided into 3 statistically comparable groups, treated, in addition to mechanical ventilation, respectively with Tokio-Akita (TA) surfactant, placebo (both by endotracheal administration) and ambroxol given by intravenous infusion. The clinical evolution of the three groups was studied, above all as related to mortality, ventilation length, oxygen need, immediate and successive pulmonary complications and cerebral haemorrhage. Mortality was lower in the group treated with ambroxol, while the ventilation length, the average insufflation pressure and the oxygen need were lower in the group treated with surfactant, compared with the other two groups. Pulmonary complications were present only in the group treated with placebo and ambroxol, whereas cerebral haemorrhage rate is higher in the group treated with surfactant. On the basis of the results achieved, some important observations are suggested and possible aetiological therapies of IRDS are formulated.

[Echography of the hip in the newborn. 1507 cases]. / Ecografia dell'anca nell'epoca neonatale. 1507 casi.

The authors report the data relative to 1507 infants studied with clinical and US examination, in the neonatal period, in order to exclude hip dysplasia or dislocation. US examination was carried out according to Graf's technique and the newborns were classified according to US hip type, to clinical examination and to possible risk factors. The patients were included in a protocol including orthopedic and US controls. Seventeen treated infants were considered as pathologic. Ten of them had IIc or D hips at birth; the other 7, with IIa hips at birth, presented a X-ray pathologic hip after the 4th month of life. At about one year of age all infants could normally walk, except for one who was being treated with harness. No statistically significant differences were observed between the number of pathologic infants in the risk group (1.7%) and that in the no-risk group (0.8%). Clinical examination of the newborn has low sensitivity in detecting pathologic hips. On the basis of their results, the authors believe US examination of the newborn to be a valuable screening method to diagnose hip dysplasia/dislocation. Moreover, Graf's morphologic method is the best one for US screening of the hip in the neonatal period.

[Pulmonary edema. A rare complication of the percutaneous insertion of silastic central venous catheters]. / Edema polmonare. Una rara complicanza del catetere siliconato venoso centrale ad inserzione percutanea.

Seven newborn infants (birth weight 920 to 1,900 g) who developed pulmonary oedema as a complication of the use of percutaneous silastic central venous catheters are described. Clinical symptoms occurred three to forty days after catheter placement. In each case, radiographic detection, performed by the injection of radiopaque dye, localized the tip of the catheter in the pulmonary artery or in its collateral branches. Clinical symptoms decreased after catheter replacement in the right atrium. The casistic examination allows the Authors to suggest some aetiopathogenetic hypothesis.

The use of amniotic FSH levels in resolving a discrepancy between fetal chromosomal and phenotypic sex.

We report a case in which a discrepancy emerged between the prenatal diagnosis of female chromosomal sex and male sex at ultrasound examination. The FSH dosage performed on an amniotic fluid sample previously stored confirmed the male phenotype of the fetus. The effectiveness of the AF-FSH level dosage in prenatal diagnosis was taken into consideration.