Embryoscopy: description and utility of a new technique

Article Abstract:

Although prenatal diagnosis has rapidly changed the practice of reproductive medicine, techniques for visualizing the fetus have been applicable only in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. It is now possible, using a rigid fiberoptic endoscope, to directly observe an embryo as early as five weeks of gestation. Care was taken to penetrate the chorion, or outer covering of the amniotic sac which encloses the fetus within the uterus, at a 90 degree angle. Progress of the endoscope was monitored using ultrasonography to observe for placental separation (from the uterine wall) or rupture of the amniotic sac. In the first clinical trials of the device, 100 women, at 5 to 13 weeks gestation, volunteered for fiberoptic endoscopic examination prior to voluntary termination of their pregnancies. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the embryo was successfully visualized. In five cases, however, the amnion was ruptured, and in one case the fetus was killed. Furthermore, the degree of sensitivity of the developing fetal retina to the light used by the fiberoptic instrument is not known. The risks involved prevent the technique from being used unless the value of the information to be obtained outweighs the potential dangers. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Methods, Equipment and supplies, Diagnosis, Risk factors, Pregnancy, Fetoscopy, Prenatal diagnosis, Pregnancy diagnosis, Endoscopy

---

Single umbilical artery: does it matter which artery is missing?

Article Abstract:

The left umbilical artery may be absent more frequently than the right artery in fetuses that have a congenital absence of an umbilical artery. Absence of the left umbilical artery may be associated more often with other congenital defects than absence of the right artery, although absence of either artery may be associated with other congenital defects. Researchers studied 77 fetuses with a single umbilical artery as diagnosed by ultrasound. Twenty of the fetuses had other developmental defects (26%), 16 of which were a missing left umbilical artery. Six fetuses had abnormal chromosomes, and all six lacked the left umbilical artery. Pregnant women suspected of having a single umbilical artery should receive ultrasound examinations and echocardiograms of the fetal heart.

Abnormalities, Fetus, Umbilical arteries

---

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Transvaginal ultrasonographic detection of congenital anomalies in the first trimester. Ultrasonographic criteria for the prenatal diagnosis of placental chorionicity in twin gestations
• Abstracts: The current role of sonography in the detection of Down's syndrome. The transverse cerebellar diameter cannot be used to assess gestational age in the small for gestational age fetus
• Abstracts: Prenatal sonographic findings of Down syndrome: review of 94 cases. Biparietal diameter/femur length ratio, cephalic index, and femur length measurements: not reliable screening techniques for Down syndrome
• Abstracts: Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening for fetal Down syndrome in the United States: results of a survey. Lack of an association between late fetal death and antiphospholipid antibody measurements in the second trimester
• Abstracts: Severe symmetric intrauterine growth retardation associated with topical use of triamcinolone. The natural history of thrombocytopenia associated with preeclampsia

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.