While breast feeding should be promoted for children at risk for atopy, mothers can be encouraged to stay on normal diet during pregnancy and the breast feeding period.

No abstract

The disappointing results with either surgery alone and/or chemotherapy in the treatment of malignant ovarian tumours have led to an increased interest in additional treatment schedules. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a modality involving the use of a photosensitising drug and activating light, is being used increasingly as a local treatment for neoplastic lesions. The synthesis and evaluation of new photosensitisers for the treatment of gynaecological lesions and malignancies continues to be an active area of investigation for proper application of the photodynamic process in the gynaecological field. The effect of PDT using methylene blue (free and combined with liposomes) as a photosensitiser for treating human ovarian malignant tumours cultivated on the chorioallantoic membrane was evaluated. Two days after PDT, the treated implanted tumours were markedly decreased in size. Areas of necrosis with black coloration, dryness and eschar formation were observed. Five days after PDT, tumour remission was clearly observed in all the treated tumours. Photodynamic therapy using methylene blue (aqueous and coupled with liposomes) is effective for treating the ovarian malignancies and it will be capable of achieving complete eradication of visible tumours in patients with superficial lesions.

We report on a case of unilateral primary fetal hydrothorax leading to nonimmunological fetal hydrops (NIHF). The NIHF was treated successfully by inserting two consecutive intrauterine catheters at 23 weeks gestation. The first catheter was dislocated through the uterine wall to the maternal peritoneal cavity. At 36 weeks gestation, the mother had a spontaneous onset of labor after premature rupture of membranes and a normal vaginal delivery of a healthy infant with good perinatal outcome. Shunting of PFHT has rarely been described up to now. This case report supports observations of previous authors that early shunting of pleural effusions may prevent progression of NIHF as well as postnatal pulmonary hypoplasia. Unexpected perinatal complications of fetus, mother or both should not be neglected.

One hundred and three intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) pregnancies were scheduled for pulsed Doppler ultrasound of the common carotid and the umbilical artery, non-stress and contraction stress tests (NST/CST) as well as vibroacoustic stimulation tests (VAST). The last examinations < 3 days before birth were compared by receiver-operator characteristics: Results of the resistance indices of fetal common carotid/umbilical artery and NST were more predictive of later fetal distress during labour, compared to CST and VAST (p < 0.001/ < 0.01). Similar results were found for the prediction of low pH and Apgar values, though differences were less pronounced. Our results suggest that stressful examinations should be abolished from mother and fetus in the supervision of IUGR.