In the 28th week of gestation a normal foetus and a holoacardius were diagnosed via sonography in a biamnotic monochoriatic twin pregnancy. The growth of the foetuses was observed under continuous sonographic control up to the 40th week of pregnancy. The patient delivered a healthy twin by Caesarean section and the acardius was subjected to a postmortem. Macroscopic and histological findings in the foetus, the placenta and the umbilical cords are demonstrated. The pathogenesis of the holoacardius is discussed as being due to chromosomal aberrations and foeto-foetal transfusion syndrome.

The insertion of two different types of intrauterine devices (Multiload 250 and Silver T) has been monitored in 97 patients through systematic exploration by echography and hysteroscopy. Both techniques seem to be highly reliable in spite of the observation of 9% misplacements of the IUDs not detected by echography. In addition, hysteroscopy enables the diagnosis of frequent associated pathology (endometrial hyperplasia, endometriosis, polyps) difficult to diagnose by echography. The present study demonstrates the fact that the ultrasonography confirmation of IUD localization in the uterus was not always accurate.

Abstract. The ontogeny of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in pancreata of human foetuses from 15–36 weeks of gestation and of infants has been studied. TRH was detectable in the pancreas of a 15 week old foetus; a progressive increase of pancreatic TRH content was observed until the 34th week of gestation, whereas a progressive decrease was found in the late period of pregnancy and in 1 year old infants. In contrast, the pancreatic insulin content showed a progressive increase during the entire pregnancy and in the first year after birth. These data indicate that TRH and insulin have different ontogenetic patterns in the human pancreas.

Abdominal and vaginal sonographic monitoring were compared in 45 patients undergoing follicular development for the purposes of artificial insemination (N = 22) and in vitro fertilization (IVF; N = 23). Transvaginal sonography recorded a significantly (p less than 0.05) higher number of follicles from cycle day 10 on, compared to the abdominal (sector and linear) approach. Starting on day 8, the size of the dominant follicle was also significantly (p less than 0.05) higher when transvaginal endosonography was used. The number of follicles greater than 15 mm on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration was correlated with the number of oocytes retrieved in patients undergoing IVF. There was a significant linear correlation when transvaginal (r = 0.86, p less than 0.001) and sector (r = 0.57, p less than 0.05) scans were used.