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Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls levels in human breast milk from different regions of Turkey

Human breast milk offers the optimal nutrition for all infants and have been widely used in biomonitoring programs to assess human exposure to lipophylic environmental contaminants such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). There are no previous reports from Turkey on chemically determined levels of PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs in human breast milk expressed as World Health Organization (WHO) toxic equivalents (TEQ). To get an overview of the levels of these contaminants in Turkish human milk, samples from 51 Turkish women living in the Ankara, Istanbul, Antalya, Kahramanmaraş, and Afyon provinces were analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) throughout 2007. The mean concentrations of WHO(PCDD/F-)TEQ and WHO(PCB-)TEQ of all samples from the five regions were 7.5 and 3.1 pg g(-1) on a lipid basis, respectively. PCDD/F concentrations ranged between 0.78 and 29.3 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1) fat (1.7 and 36.2 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1) fat, respectively, including PCB). Of the five studied locations, the lowest levels of sigmaTEQs (PCDD/F+PCB) were found in the Afyon (6.8 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1) fat) and the highest in the Antalya (15.6 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1) fat) province. The results have been discussed in terms of regions and PCDD/F and PCBs for which analyses had been made. The mean levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in Turkish human milk are comparable to that found in other countries.

Recurrent preeclampsia and perinatal outcome: a study of women with recurrent preeclampsia compared with women with preeclampsia who remained normotensive during their prior pregnancies

Objective.  To evaluate the impact of preeclampsia recurrence on perinatal outcome.

Induction of labor with intravaginal misoprostol versus intracervical dinoprostone

Abstract. Sixty five pregnant women who had the indication for labor induction were randomized in a clinical trial to receive 100 µg. intravaginal misoprostol or intracervical gel of 0.5 mg dinoprostone. The mean time from induction to delivery for the misoprostol group was 7.6±1.9 versus 8.2±5.9 (hours±SD) for the dinoprostone group. There were no significant differences between groups in gestational age, induced labor rates, type of delivery, fetal outcome and maternal complications. We found that intravaginal misoprostol tablet is as effective as intracervical dinoprostone for inducing second and third trimester labor.

Long-term fluctuation of retinal sensitivity during pregnancy

BACKGROUND We investigated the effect of pregnancy on the long-term fluctuation of retinal sensitivity in healthy women. METHODS Candidates for the study were healthy women who were likely to become pregnant. A complete ocular examination of both eyes was performed in 41 women, and 1 eye each was chosen at random for the study. This initial examination included 2 sets of visual field measurements consisting of 5 individual measures done at least a day apart. After pregnancy, ocular examinations were repeated once between 10 and 15 weeks of gestation and once between 29 and 34 weeks. The mean threshold sensitivity (MS) of the visual field and the coefficient of variation of MS measurements for upper temporal, upper nasal, lower temporal, and lower nasal quadrants were calculated in each series. RESULTS The visual field MS of the subjects increased significantly in the third trimester (p < 0.01). The coefficient of variation of the visual field MS measurements did not change significantly in the nasal quadrants. However, it decreased significantly in both upper and lower temporal quadrants. INTERPRETATION Visual field MS and the reproducibility of MS measurements for temporal visual field increased significantly in the third trimester of the pregnancy. Further studies on the role of pregnancy-related ocular hemodynamic changes may provide insight into the etiopathogenesis of hormone-related processes.

Placental biopsy by frozen section: Does it have a role in evaluation of fetal well‐being?

Aim:  To assess the effectiveness of post‐partum placental biopsy and frozen section evaluation in diagnosing pregnancy disorders.