J. Shime

Shoulder dystocia: Predictors and outcome: A five-year review

Shoulder dystocia is an uncommon complication of delivery with a high morbidity rate. Ninety-one cases were coded for shoulder dystocia at the Toronto General Hospital from 1980 through 1985. True shoulder dystocia was found in 24 cases, an incidence of 0.23%. There was no significant difference in average weight and percentage of macrosomia between cases of true shoulder dystocia and those merely coded as such. True shoulder dystocia was associated with a neonatal morbidity rate of 42%, consisting of a respiratory arrest and neurological and orthopedic damage. Fundal pressure, in the absence of other maneuvers, resulted in a 77% complication rate and was strongly associated with orthopedic and neurologic damage. Delivery of the posterior shoulder and the corkscrew maneuver were associated with good fetal outcome.

Shoulder dystocia: Predictors and outcome

Abstract Shoulder dystocia is an uncommon complication of delivery with a high morbidity rate. Ninety-one cases were coded for shoulder dystocia at the Toronto General Hospital from 1980 through 1985. True shoulder dystocia was found in 24 cases, an incidence of 0.23%. There was no significant difference in average weight and percentage of macrosomia between cases of true shoulder dystocia and those merely coded as such. True shoulder dystocia was associated with a neonatal morbidity rate of 42%, consisting of a respiratory arrest and neurological and orthopedic damage. Fundal pressure, in the absence of other maneuvers, resulted in a 77% complication rate and was strongly associated with orthopedic and neurologic damage. Delivery of the posterior shoulder and the corkscrew maneuver were associated with good fetal outcome.

The influence of prolonged pregnancy on infant development at one and two years of age: a prospective controlled study

Isolated reports of developmental disturbances following prolonged pregnancy led us to compare, prospectively, at 1 and 2 years of age, infants born after normal term gestations with those born after prolonged pregnancies (exceeding 294 days). The infants were subgrouped according to their physical condition at birth, that is, normal or dysmature (mild or advanced dysmaturity). Infant assessments included: (1) height and weight, (2) hospitalizations, and (3) mental development by the Griffiths Mental Development Scales. Follow-up testing was obtained on 130 term control infants and 89 infants of prolonged pregnancies at 1 year of age and 111 term control infants and 76 infants of prolonged pregnancies at 2 years of age. At 1 and 2 years the general intelligence quotient, physical milestones, and intercurrent illnesses for normal infants and those of prolonged pregnancies were not significantly different.

Prolonged pregnancy: surveillance of the fetus and the neonate and the course of labor and delivery

The perinatal events in 184 term control pregnancies and 129 prolonged pregnancies were prospectively compared. Fetal surveillance consisted of weekly biophysical profile testing. Thirty-two infants were dysmature, and 10 of these had advanced dysmaturity. The incidence of advanced dysmaturity rose quickly after 44 weeks. This group was at greater risk for fetal distress, lower Apgar scores, and emergency cesarean section. The combination of oligohydramnios, a suboptimal nonstress test, and a low profile score was highly predictive of a neonate with advanced dysmaturity. In the control pregnancies, the rate of induction of labor was 13.81% compared with 39.84% in the prolonged pregnancies. The induced labor group had a 51.32% cesarean section rate. Our approach to prolonged pregnancy consists of elective induction of labor when the cervix is favorable and biweekly profile testing when it is not; however, the high incidence of advanced dysmaturity after 44 weeks warrants delivery.

Transabdominal chorionic villus sampling in the second trimester

Transabdominal chorionic villus sampling under ultrasound guidance was carried out in 19 patients in the second trimester. We found that needle size combination 17/19 provided the best results with consistently adequate samples of tissue. Transabdominal chorionic villus sampling is a potentially useful technique for providing relatively rapid prenatal genetic diagnosis in patients at high risk in the second trimester.

A randomised controlled trial of biopsy forceps and cannula aspiration for transcervical chorionic villus sampling

Objective  This trial compared two instruments for transcervical chorionic villus sampling (CVS).

Dantrolene in pregnancy: lack of adverse effects on the fetus and newborn infant.

Twenty malignant hyperthermia-susceptible pregnant patients were given dantrolene sodium orally for 5 days before delivery and 3 days after delivery. When cesarean section was necessary, triggering agents were avoided. No patient had a malignant hyperthermia reaction. No adverse effect of dantrolene sodium was detected by extensive testing of the fetus and neonate. The maternal predelivery dantrolene level was correlated with the noenatal cord blood dantrolene level (r = 0.837). The mean maternal predelivery dantrolene level was 0.99 +/- 0.5 microgram/ml, and the mean neonatal cord blood dantrolene level 0.68 +/- 0.3 microgram/ml. The time from the last dose of dantrolene to delivery was correlated with both the maternal dantrolene level and the neonatal cord blood level (r = 0.65). The half-life of dantrolene in the neonatal circulation was 20 hours. The controversy of oral dantrolene prophylaxis and the implications of this study with regard to further investigation are discussed.

The variability of fetal breathing movements in normal human fetuses at term

With the use of a B-scan phase-locked tracking system, 108 observations of fetal breathing were performed on 97 normal antenatal patients at term. One hundred thirty-three recorded segments of fetal breathing movements were obtained. Breath-to-breath variability was analyzed in 79 segments and expressed as a coefficient of variability. The mean coefficient of variability was 28.6% +/- 13.2%, and a histogram plot revealed a normal distribution. All fetuses had normal antepartum testing and all Apgar scores and neonatal courses were normal. The potential application of human fetal breathing variability as a test for fetal health is discussed.

Reliability Study of the Laparoscopic Skills Index (LSI): A New Measure of Gynaecologic Laparoscopic Surgical Skills

OBJECTIVE To construct and test the reliability of the Laparoscopic Skills Index (LSI) as a new, multi-item, objective measure of laparoscopic skills in gynaecology. METHODS Construction of the LSI involved (1). item selection, (2). choosing a method to scale responses, (3). design, and (4). choosing a scoring method. Internal consistency and rater reliability were tested. One community-based gynaecologist (rater A) and 3 teaching faculty gynaecologists (raters B, C, and D) reviewed 20 videotaped gynaecologic laparoscopy operations and scored operator (subject) performance. RESULTS Cronbachs a was 0.95, indicating a high level of internal consistency. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for all 4 raters was 0.51 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.20-0.76), indicative of moderate interrater reliability. A systematic observer bias was seen wherein rater As scores closely paralleled, but were consistently higher than, those of raters B, C, and D. The ICC for raters B, C, and D only was 0.77 (95% CI, 0.56-0.90), which is consistent with very good rater agreement. CONCLUSION The LSI appears to have the properties of a reliable, unidimensional index, in which the item variables are true components of the overall attribute, that is, laparoscopic skill.