All three regimens were effective in postpartum anaemia, but the haematocrit and reticulocyte responses to rhEPO plus parenteral iron were significantly greater than to iron alone. Benefit was greatest in the blunted erythropoiesis subgroup with elevated post-Caesarean section C-reactive protein levels.

Aims The excretion of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) in breast milk was investigated in 15 lactating mothers after Caesarean section. Methods Blood and milk samples were collected before and 3±4 h after once daily routine subcutaneous injection of 2500 IU dalteparin. Anti-Xa activity was measured by an assay utilizing prolonged clotting times in plasma or breast milk as an index of LMWH activity. Results Plasma anti-Xa activities ranged from 0.074 to 0.308 IU ml x1 of plasma. Anti-Xa activities in breast milk ranged from <0.005±0.037 IU ml x1 of milk. This is equivalent to a milk/plasma ratio of <0.025±0.224. Conclusions Therefore, it appears highly unlikely that puerperal thromboprophylaxis with LMWH has any clinically relevant effect on the nursing infant.

Our aim was to correct severe iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy by using a combination therapy of recombinant human erythropoietin and parenteral iron. Eleven anemic pregnant women were treated once weekly until a hemoglobin value of 11.0 g/dl was reached. Red blood cell production was monitored by reticulocyte flow cytometry and hemoglobin increase. Iron status was assessed by serum ferritin values and transferrin saturation values. 8/11 patients showed an immediate response, noted by a continuous increase of reticulocytes, high fluorescent reticulocyte ratio and hemoglobin levels. Three patients who had lower serum ferritin values, low transferrin saturation and a lower reticulocyte count before treatment showed little response. The combination of rhEPO and parenteral iron is effective in stimulating erythropoiesis and in treating certain pregnancy anemias. This therapy could be an alternative for patients refusing blood transfusions or who are resistant to iron alone. Poor response to the treatment can be due to insufficient iron supplementation during therapy with rhEPO or due to factors that inhibit erythropoiesis during pregnancy, such as undetected infections.

Conventional post-processing of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) by 3D spiral CT, 3D MRI and 2D DSA is often hampered by extended artefacts due to patient movements during examination. In this paper an image registration procedure prior to the digital subtraction is introduced allowing an enhanced visualization of the contrast agent. The object displacement is detected by analysis of image deformations in small local regions. The motion pattern is used to compute a new synthetic mask of maximum congruence with the contrast medium image. This new mask image is then used in the subsequent subtraction. The algorithm works fully automatically and does not need any interactive placement of landmarks. Results obtained from subtraction of uncorrected and corrected sequences were compared with each other. The registration procedure provided good results in the suppression of subtraction artefacts and in the enhancement of vascular structures. Results are presented from subtraction of 2D and 3D data from CTA, MR mammography and coronary angiography.

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