The clinical analysis of 46 cases of abruptio placentae complicating eclampsia showed that, (1) the severity of the eclamptic symptoms influenced the extension of the placental separation, (2) older and multiparous women had more complications, larger placental separations and higher mortality, (3) there were ten maternal deaths due to the additive effects of various complications, (4) total perinatal mortality was 44.7% and it was 40.5% for fetuses above 1000 g, (5) optimum timing of delivery by cesarean operation offered slightly better prognosis, even in cases with antepartum fetal death, (6) the dominant factor for morbidity was the stage reached by the combined pathology before receiving qualified medical care, and (7) the wide variability of these cases suggested that the basis for the complete management should be a series of sound and individually tailored decisions to be carried out in a reasonably short time.

INTRODUCTION: Standard neurophysiological techniques evaluate thick myelinated fibers. Yet, peripheral nerves are equally composed of thin myelinated and unmyelinated fibers. The latter are responsible for autonomic function as well as temperature and pain perception. DEVELOPMENT: Microneurographic studies are restricted to investigation laboratories. Since the techniques are complex and invasive, their performance is still poor for clinical purposes and some of the components to be analyzed, such as cardiovagal, cannot be directly recorded. The clinical need to evaluate the functions regulated by the autonomic nervous system (ANS) had led to devising a series of tests which, in most cases, rely on reflex responses evoked by already known standardize stimuli. The battery chosen has to be non invasive, reproducible, specific, providing relevant data to the investigated function, with a readily available technology, which has to be managed being aware of the physiological and pathological factors that might bear an influence on the results. The recent development of heart rate blood pressure power spectral analysis, provides a new interesting insight for quantification of ANS abnormalities. The study of thermography and thermometry of body surface brings forward evidence on the activity of other thin and unmyelinated fibers components of the peripheral nerve spectrum. CONCLUSION: The adequate management of the above mentioned tests gives rise to a more extensive and appropriate knowledge of the whole peripheral nerve fiber spectrum.

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