A prospective case-control study is presented to assess an allergy prevention programme in children up to 36 months of age. Infants born at three maternity hospitals were followed from birth: 279 infants with high atopic risk (intervention group) were compared with 80 infants with similar atopic risk but no intervention (non-intervention group). The intervention programme included dietary measures (exclusive and prolonged milk feeding diet followed by a hypoantigenic weaning diet) and environmental measures (avoidance of parental smoking in the presence of the babies, day care >2 years of life). Mothers in this group who had insufficient breast milk were randomly assigned to one of two coded formulas: either a hydrolysed milk formula (Nidina HA, Nestle) or a conventional adapted formula (Nan, Nestle). Other environmental measures remained the same as for the breastfeeding mothers. The non-intervention group were either _breastfed or received the usual Italian milk feeding and weaning diet, without environmental advice. The main outcome measures were anthropometric measurements and allergic disease manifestations. Normal anthropometric data were observed both in the intervention group and in the nonintervention group. The incidence of allergic manifestations was much lower in the intervention group than in the nonintervention group at 1 year (1 I .5 versus 54.4%, respectively) and at 2 years (14.9 versus 65.6%) and 3 years (20.6 versus 74. I 'YO). Atopic dermatitis and recurrent wheezing were found in both the intervention group and the non-intervention group from birth up to the second year of life, while urticaria and gastrointestinal disorders were only present in the nonintervention group in the first year of life. Conjunctivitis and rhinitis were present after the second year in both the intervention group and the non-intervention group. Relapse of the same allergic symptom was less in the intervention group (13.0%) than in the non-intervention group (36.9%). In comparison to the non-intervention group, there were fewer intervention group cases with two or more different allergic symptoms (8.7 versus 32.6%). and they were more likely to avoid steroid treatment (0 versus 10.8%) and hospital admission (0 versus 6.5%). Babies in the non-intervention group fed with adapted formula were more likely to develop allergies than breastfed babies in the same group. In the intervention group the breastfed infants had the lowest incidence of allergic symptoms, followed by the infants fed the hydrolysed formula (ns). Infants in the intervention group fed the adapted formula had significantly more allergies than the breastfed and hydrolysed milk fed infants, although less than their counterparts in the non-intervention group. Of the affected subjects in the intervention group, 80.4% were RAST and/or Prick positive to food or inhalant allergens. Total serum IgE values detected at birth in the intervention group were not predictive, but at 1 and 2 years of age, IgE values more than 2 SD above the mean in asymptomatic babies w...

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Even very mild alterations in glucose tolerance can result in excessive or disharmonious fetal growth, which may be prevented by simple, non-invasive therapeutic measures.

Basophil releasability was studied in 24 cord blood samples from normal-term deliveries. The histamine content in cord blood basophils was similar to that of adult blood basophils. The response to IgE-independent degranulating stimuli such as calcium ionophore A23187 and zymosan-activated human serum was overlapping with that of normal adults. Conversely, a reduced releasability was observed after challenge with anti-IgE, even after sensitization with an IgE-rich serum. The IgE-dependent degranulation seems to be hampered by the low concentrations of circulating and cell-bound IgE antibodies. The number of IgE molecules bound to the specific receptors in cord blood basophils is significantly lower than in adult blood basophils.

"Fetus in fetu" is a rare pathologic feature consisting of a parasitic twin included within the body of the other twin. ' As reported by Lee,2 only 13 cases have been described since 1900. Nearly all cases were diagnosed during surgery within the first year ofWe report a case detected during a prenatal ultrasound examination as a fetal abdominal mass. CASE REPORTS.L., a 20-year-old woman in her first pregnancy, was referred to our Department at the 35th week for a suspected fetal anomaly detected elsewhere by means of ultrasound.Sonography showed a single fetus whose size was appropriate for gestational age (biparietal diameter = 91.6 mm; abdominal circumference = 31.7 cm). Fetal heart activity was present and normal and the amniotic fluid was of normal quantity. A fairly well defined, round mass, 40 mm in diameter, was evident anterior to the left fetal kidney and cranial to the urine bladder (Fig. 1).Irregular, strong echoes just in the middle of this "complex" mass were observed. Location in the kidney was excluded and a fetal teratoma suspected.At the 40th week, a male infant weighing 3340 g was vaginally delivered. Apgar score was 7 at 1 min and 9 at 5 min.A mobile abdominal mass was palpable in the left flank of the newborn child; no signs of urinary or gastroenteric tract involvement occurred and common laboratory results were normal.Ultrasonic examination at the first day of life confirmed the size and characteristics of the mass.