Objectives

Objectives The aim of this study was to visualize levator trauma by three-dimensional (3D)

In conclusion, these data support the use of L-Arg as an antihypertensive agent for gestational hypertension especially in view of the other beneficial effects nitric oxide donors display in pregnancy. Further, L-Arg seems well tolerated since in this sample none of the patients reported adverse effects requiring study interruption.

he presence of an interhemispheric supratentorial fluid collection requires an attentive analysis for differentiation between interhemispheric supratentorial cystlike fluid collection lesions and pathologic cystic lesions. Interhemispheric supratentorial fluid lesions are a heterogeneous group of lesions with respect to their origin, natural history, association with other anomalies, and especially prognosis. They may represent physiologic median structures without clinical importance, such as an enlarged cavum vergae or cavum veli interpositi (CVI). 1 However, the differential diagnosis of midline cystic cerebral lesions includes an enlarged third ventricle, a vein of Galen malformation, an interhemispheric cyst associated with agenesis of the corpus callosum, a suprasellar arachnoid cyst, a porencephalic cyst, a glioependimal cyst, schizencephaly, a cystic neoplasm, and intracranial hemorrhage.The clinical spectrum and prognosis of these abnormalities are difficult to delineate because of the rarity of each entity and the different associations. The cystlike structures related to median structures are considered variants of physiologic structures, whereas the other structures include pathologic processes that may be associated with neurodevelopmental delays. We report a case of prenatal diagnosis of a CVI by 2-dimensional (2D) sonography, color Doppler imaging, 3-dimensional (3D) tomographic imaging, and 3D high-definition flow. The findings were confirmed by postnatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Cervical competence is a key function in normal and abnormal labour. Remodelling of the cervical structure, by reorientation and changes in the integrity of collagen fibres by an alteration in the content of water, proteoglycans and hyaluronic acid, takes place before parturition. Such morphological changes have been associated with the activation of several biochemical pathways, sharing those of an apyretic, proinflammatory reaction, including the inducible isoform of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Nitric oxide (NO) is believed to be the final mediator in the mechanisms that allow ripening of the cervix. A reduction of NO activity in the uterus, together with its activation in the cervix, is hypothesised to be a facilitating factor in human parturition. The local application of NO donors in both animals and humans induces ultrastructural changes similar to those occurring during physiological cervical maturation. NO donors have proven to be clinically effective in facilitating first trimester dilation and curettage. Preliminary data also suggest that in women presenting with threatening preterm labour, there is increased activity of NO in the cervix, which is associated with shortening. A complex interaction between cytokines, prostaglandins (PGs) and NO is the key biochemical pathway accounting for the preterm ripening of the cervix.