Transvaginal multifetal pregnancy reduction: Which? When? How many?

This report contains the experience of our centre, using the transvaginally guided puncture procedure, to reduce the number of fetuses in a multifetal pregnancy to a lower number. The aim of the procedure was to improve perinatal outcome and/or to meet the personal desires of patients and their families. We surveyed 148 multifetal pregnancy reductions. The fetus or fetuses overlying the internal os was most commonly reduced. The total uncorrected loss of the entire pregnancy was 13.4%. The corrected pregnancy loss was 11%. Of the 63 twins left after the reduction, 33 delivered preterm. Of the 36 singletons, two delivered preterm. Our conclusion was that multifetal pregnancy reduction is a safe procedure for the mother and has an acceptable loss rate of the entire pregnancy. The reduction of a fetus overlying the internal os by the transvaginal puncture procedure seems to yield results at least as good as the transabdominally performed puncture procedures for multifetal pregnancy reduction.     

Activity of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and vasopressin level in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension

AIM: Assessment of RAAS and vasopressin in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Activity of plasma renin (APR), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), plasma levels of angiotensin II (AII) and vasopressin (VP), serum concentration of aldosteron (AS) were measured by radioimmunoassay and enzyme immunoassay in 21 PPH patients with circulatory failure (age 34.7 +/- 2.1 years), 11 patients with NYHA functional class II-III, 10 with class IV, and 10 control subjects (age 29.8 +/- 1.5 years). RESULTS: Compared to controls, 21 PPH patients had elevated RAAS parameters: APR up to 3.52 ng/ml/h (p < 0.05), activity of ACE up to 43.13 units, AII level up to 33.93 ng/ml (p < 0.01), AS up to 468.86 ng/ml (p < 0.01), VP up to 5.26 ng/ml (p < 0.001). Circulatory failure progression resulted in activation of all the RAAS components. This and VP activation was the greatest in PPH patients with ACE > 5 ng/ml/h. PPH patients with mean pressure in the pulmonary artery higher than 60 mm Hg demonstrated higher ARP, AS, VP, AII, ACE than those who had this pressure under 60 mm Hg. CONCLUSION: PPH patients display a noticeable activation of RAAS and VP. This activation seems to be secondary as the changes increase with elevation of the pressure in the pulmonary artery and aggravation of circulatory insufficiency. Plasma renin activity determines the degree of RAAS activation as a whole. The discovered activation of RAAS in PPH gives grounds for doubts in the validity of using ACE inhibitors in the treatment of PPH.     

脾动脉阻断联合射频消融术治疗脾功能亢进的疗效观察

【摘要】 目的 总结脾动脉球囊阻断联合脾脏射频消融术（RFA）治疗肝硬化门静脉高压型脾功能亢进的有效性及经验。方法 在脾动脉球囊阻断状态下对15例脾功能亢进患者行经皮穿刺脾脏RFA,RFA平均时间为（46．4±5．4）min。术后3 d、1周、1个月、3个月和6个月监测血常规,术后1个月复查腹部CTA。结果 1例患者术后出现左侧大量血性胸腔积液,给予止血及胸腔积液引流后好转,其余患者未发生严重并发症。RFA后1个月行腹部CTA检查示RFA毁损范围占脾脏总体积的比率为34．3％～71.8％,平均（56.20±13.09）％。术前血细胞计数示:白细胞为（3.88±1.75）×109/L,红细胞（4.06± 0.37）×1012/L,血小板（48.14±11.33）×109/L。RFA术后1个月复查示:白细胞（5.62±1.61）×109/L,血小板（132.29±33.20）×109/L;与术前相比,血小板和白细胞显著升高（P<0．05）。结论 脾动脉球囊阻断联合RFA治疗肝硬化门静脉高压型脾功能亢进具有较高的安全性,且近期疗效可靠。     

Influence of non-inherited maternal HLA-DR antigens on susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE: It has recently been observed that non-inherited maternal DR4 antigens (NIMAs) of DR4 negative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were increased compared with non-inherited paternal DR4 antigens (NIPAs). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of non-inherited DR4 antigens and DRB1 alleles in parents of RA patients. METHODS: HLA-DR serology and DRB1 typing was performed in 97 RA patients and their parents. NIMA and NIPA frequencies were compared, stratified according to the presence of DR4 and/or the shared epitope (SE). RESULTS: In DR4 negative patients, NIMA DR4 was increased compared with NIPA DR4 (OR 3.10, 95% CI 0.76, 12.70). When combined with results from a previous study this increase was significant (OR 3.65, 95% CI 1.29, 10.31). The NIMA effect of SE positive DR4 subtypes in this study (OR 4.73, 95% CI 0.94, 23.8) was stronger than the NIMA effect of combined SE positive DRB1 alleles (OR 2.19 95% CI 0.36, 13.22). CONCLUSIONS: The association between non-inherited maternal HLA-DR4 alleles and the susceptibility to RA was observed in two independent populations.     

Effect of polymerization temperature and time on the residual monomer content of denture base polymers

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of polymerization time and polymerization temperature on the residual methyl methacrylate (MMA) content of two heat-cured and two autopolymerized denture base polymers. Gas chromatography was used to determine the residual MMA content of three test specimens of each type of polymer. Increasing the polymerization temperature for the autopolymerized denture base resins from 30 degrees C to 60 degrees C decreased the residual MMA content of the polymer from an average of 4.6 wt% to 3.3 wt%. With the heat-cured denture base resins, a curing cycle at a polymerization temperature of 70 degrees C followed by a period at 100 degrees C significantly reduced the residual monomer content of the polymer when compared with a resin cured at 70 degrees C only. Polymerizing the heat-cured denture base resin at 100 degrees C only for various lengths of time significantly affected the residual MMA content of the polymer. The lowest residual MMA content (0.07 wt%) was obtained by polymerizing the heat-cured denture base resin at 100 degrees C for 12 h. The results of this study suggest that the polymerization temperature and polymerization time considerably affect the residual MMA content of denture base polymers.