A Case of Nonimmune Hydrops Fetalis / 대한주산의학회잡지

Hydrops fetalis is diagnosed when abnormal fluid collections are manifest in two or more fetal compartments, including abdominal ascites, pleural effusions, pericardial effusions, skin edema, polyhydroamniosis and placental edema. Although fetal hydrops was hystorically most commonly associated with Rh blood group isoimmunization, the availability of Rh immunoglobulin has increased the proportion of fetuses affected due to nonimmune etiologies. We have experienced a case of nonimmune hydrops fetalis at 32 weeks of gestation in a 27-year-old woman and reported that with brief review of related literatures.

Efficacy of Maternal Serum Corticotropin Releasing Factor Levels in Diagnosis of Pregnancies Complicated by Preterm Labor / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Human placenta synthesizes bioactive corticotropin releasing factor(CRF), a 41 amino acid peptide, which displays identical immunological, biological, and chemical characteristics to hypothalamic CRF. Placental CRF enters the maternal circulation and stimulates release of local placental prostaglandin E2 and F2alpha that have a central role in the mechanisms controlling uterine contractility and cervical softening. A large number of clinical investigators has suggested that placental CRF may be involved in mechanisms leading to labor. As well as CRF`s rises in term pregnancy, maternal serum CRF levels are also elevated in pregnancies complicated by preterm labor. So the clinical use of maternal serum CRF levels as a predictor of preterm labor was proposed. Therefore, we have carried out a prospective study on the efficacy of maternal serum CRF levels in diagnosis of preterm labor. In this study, the subjects consisted of 30 women admitted for the treatment of preterm labor and another 30 women with normal pregnancies between 28 and 36 completed weeks of gestation, and their serum CRF levels were assessed. The results were as follows: 1. In both groups, serum CRF levels were increased as being associated to gestational ages, especially in late pregnancy. 2. In a comparative study between two groups, the serum CRF values of pregnancies complicated by preterm labor were significantly higher than their values of control group(p0.05).

A Case of Prenatal Diagnosis of Thoracic Ectopia Cordis / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Ectopia cordis is defined as a congenital malposition of the heart partially or completely outside the thorax and often associated with sternal and congenital heart defects:surgical repair is generally unsuccessful because of the magnitude of the deformity and the associat-ed intracardiac anormalies. Four types of ectopia cordis are described : cervical, thoracic, abdominal and thoracoa- bdominal. Cervical and thoracic type are often fatal within days, because the heart is expo- sed and malformed. Abdominal type carries a better prognosis because cardiac abnormalities are less often found. The prognosis of thoraco-abdominal type mainly depends on the pre- sence of intracardiac abnormalities. We have experienced a case of thoracic ectopia cordis at 25 weeks' gestation by ultra- sonography, so present the case and the review with literature briefly.