Fetal head molding

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of assessment of overlap of fetal skull bones (molding) in intrapartum prediction of cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD). DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional study. SETTING: South African high-risk obstetric unit that receives referrals from other facilities. POPULATION: Women of at least 37 weeks' gestation in the active phase of labor, with singleton vertex presentations and live fetuses, and without previous cesarean sections...

Stachybotrys chartarum (atra) is a toxic mold that grows on water-damaged cellulose-based materials. Research has revealed also that inhalation of S. chartarum spores caused marked changes in respiratory epithelium, especially to developing lungs. We analyzed the epigenetic potential of S. chartarum spore toxins on developing rat lung fibroblasts using single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Isolated fetal lung fibroblasts were exposed to S. chartarum spore toxins for 15 min, 3, 14, or 24 hr and control cells were exposed to saline under the same conditions...

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UNLABELLED: The aim of this prospective study is to assess the effect of non indicated supplementation with Materna during normal pregnancy on some parameters of the neonate and the process of delivery. The material includes 98 women who had been taking Materna during the pregnancy and 27 cases without any medications. The criteria for inclusion are: normally progressing clinically and paraclinically pregnancy and delivery after completing 37th w.g. (95% confident interval 39.0-40.5)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Newborns with in utero cranial vault molding can present with severe forms of plagiocephaly. Intrauterine constraint has been proposed as one cause for craniosynostosis. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate whether rigid plate fixation across a fetal cranial suture, representing a severe form of growth restriction in utero, would lead to cranial suture fusion in a fetal lamb model. Six fetal lambs at 85 to 95 days gestation (term = 145 days) underwent laparotomy, hysterotomy, fetal coronal scalp incision, and miniplate screw fixation across the right coronal suture in utero...

BACKGROUND: Intracranial hemorrhage in a full-term infant is uncommon, is usually subarachnoid in type, and is usually associated with operative vaginal delivery or asphyxia. CASE: A 15-year-old primigravid woman at 37 weeks' gestation developed a prolonged second stage of labor associated with persistent occiput posterior position. With the onset of pushing, baseline fetal heart rate (FHR) decreased and variability increased. Thirty minutes before vaginal delivery, sudden fetal tachycardia (up to 210 beats per minute) was observed, with absent variability and minimal decelerations...

Previous investigators have reported that exposure to a mixture of environmental contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls, results in morphologic asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres in hatchling great blue herons (Ardea herodias) and have suggested that this asymmetry may be a useful biomarker for contamination. This study was made to determine whether exposure to PCB congeners 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC #77) and 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC #126) causes similar asymmetry in hatchling domestic chickens (Gallus domesticus)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The outcome of labor induced by use of a glyceride-based vaginal suppository of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) inserted 3 hours before amniotomy, when the cervix is favorable, has been assessed. Using 5 mg PGE2 for primigravidas and 2.5 mg for multigravidas, 63% of the former and 81% of the latter established labor and were delivered of their infants without oxytocin augmentation, allowing ambulation during early labor. No maternal complications were detected as a result of the PGE2 treatment. Compared with patients undergoing conventional induction by amniotomy and immediate oxytocin titration there was no difference in the duration of labor, with a few patients establishing labor and giving birth quickly with both induction methods...

The molding of the fetal head was studied in 319 vaginal deliveries. A photographic method was used to document the size and form of the infants' heads immediately postpartum and 3 days later. Six different diameters were measured but only three changed significantly during early neonatal restitution. A molding index was calculated and compared with the conventional occipitofrontal circumference. Infants born by primiparous women showed significantly higher degrees of molding of the head than those born by multiparous women...

This article has considered the subject of bony pelvic dystocia and soft tissue dystocia. Dystocia most often results from a combination of fetal and pelvic factors. However, on many occasions the size and shape of the pelvis is the initial problem, which encourages the fetus to take up a malposition such as occiput-posterior, and this in turn results in a dysfunctional contraction pattern that may or may not be corrected by oxytocin augmentation--a vicious circle that can only be broken by performance of a cesarean section...

Head molding refers to changes in cranial bone relationships that occur in response to external compression force. In the normal term labor with vertex presentation, the suboccipito-bregmatic diameter shortens and the mentovertical diameter lengthens. This is accomplished partially through the unbending or straightening of the parietal bones rather than the frequently taught mechanism of overlapping sutures. The occipital and frontal bones may also contribute by an inward movement of their apex, using their basal portions as a hinge...

Plagiocephaly usually originates in late fetal life through aberrant constraint of the fetal head and is often associated with sternocleidomastoid torticollis. In some patients the obligue head shape may become a permanent, cosmetic disability. Individually fitted plastic helmets, similar in style to football helmets, have been successfully used to remold the deformed heads of four infants. Each helmet is designed to fit snugly against the prominent aspects of the infants' cranium and to be loose fitting where the head is shallow...

A case report of lidocaine intoxication in a newborn following local anesthesia for maternal episiotomy is presented. A molded head in the occiput posterior position may predispose to inadvertent, direct injection of the fetal scalp.