BackgroundDuring pregnancy, women are at risk of developing persistent symptomatic diastasis recti abdominis (DRA), which may have a detrimental effect on their physical function and quality of life (QoL). The aim of this prospective cohort study was to determine the effect of surgical repair of DRA on abdominal trunk function, urinary incontinence and QoL in postpartum women with trunk instability symptoms resistant to training.MethodsPostpartum women with diagnosed DRA and training‐resistant symptoms underwent double‐row plication of the linea alba. Abdominal trunk function was evaluated as the primary endpoint using a multimodal examination tool, the Abdominal Trunk Function Protocol. Recurrence was assessed by CT, urinary incontinence was evaluated using the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI‐6) and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ‐7), and QoL was assessed with the Short Form 36 (SF‐36®) questionnaire. All subjects were examined before and 1 year after surgery.ResultsSixty women were recruited. There was no DRA recurrence at the 1‐year follow‐up. Self‐reported abdominal trunk function had improved in 98 per cent of patients, with a mean score improvement of 79·1 per cent. In the physiological tests monitored by a physiotherapist, 76 per cent performed better and endured exercise tests longer than before surgery. All SF‐36® subscales improved significantly compared with preoperative scores and reached levels similar to, or higher than, the normative Swedish female population. For the UDI‐6 and IIQ‐7, 47 and 37 per cent respectively reported fewer symptoms at follow‐up than before surgery, and 13 and 8 per cent respectively reported more symptoms.ConclusionIn this series of postpartum women presenting with DRA and symptoms of trunk instability resistant to training, surgical reconstruction resulted in a significant improvement in abdominal trunk function, urinary incontinence and QoL.

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ABSTRACT. The length of time for which deep vein thrombosis (DVT) should be treated with oral anticoagulants (OA) is controversial. In this study, 135 patients with symptomatic first period DVT (83 % with proximal DVT) were randomly allocated to OA for one or six months. The diagnosis of initial and recurrent DVT was confirmed by phlebography or plethysmography and thermography, or by a combination of all these methods. Pulmonary emboli were confirmed by lung scans or at autopsy. The patients were followed for at least one year. One patient had to discontinue OA prematurely because of haemorrhage. Seventeen patients left the project for other reasons, ten during and seven after therapy; in one of these DVT recurred. The recurrence rate during the first year was high (17% symptomatic recurrences) irrespective of whether OA had been given for one or six months.

A newborn infant with congenital neuroblastoma complicated by disseminated intravascular coagulation is described. At birth the infant showed liver and spleen enlargement and shortly thereafter malignant cells were found in the bone marrow. On the fifth day of life the infant started to bleed and coabulation analysis indicated disseminated intravascular coagulation. Heparin therapy corrected the coagulation anomaly and irradiation and chemotherapy temporarily improved the general condition of the infant. The infant finally succumbed from tis primary neoplastic disease.