Fifty consecutive patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy were studied prospectively by ultrasound to determine the incidence of vault haematoma and the relationship between its size and the development of postoperative pyrexia; 49 patients (98%) had a vault haematoma and 35 (70%) were febrile postoperatively. Large vault haematomas (mean diameter greater than 5 cm) were invariably associated with significant febrile morbidity, whilst 1 in 3 patients with a small haematoma was afebrile. Colporrhaphy did not influence the likelihood of haematoma formation.

Cranial ultrasound examinations were performed on 533 infants of between 48 and 96 hours of age to establish the range of ventricular size in neonates of different gestational ages in whom there was no evidence of intraventricular hemorrhage or neural tube defects. It was found that ventricular size did not vary in infants with gestational age of 26 weeks or more. Only 15 (2.8 per cent) neonates had a ventricular width of greater than 3 mm. Of these 15 infants, 13 were re-examined within the first year of life and found to be neurologically and developmentally normal.

Summary. One hundred ultrasound‐guided ovarian cyst punctures were performed in 88 patients. To minimize the risk of unexpected malignancy, only persistent or painful cysts <10 cm in diameter were aspirated, cysts with solid areas or multiple locules were excluded. Cytological diagnosis was not possible in 72 of the 100 fluids; of the others 20 contained cells suggestive of follicular or luteal cysts, four samples suggested endometriosis and four benign tumours of epithelial origin. Oestradiol levels were high in 54 cystic fluids, and a combination of oestradiol estimation and cytology facilitated the identification of a follicular origin. Most such patients would normally have undergone surgery, but this was eventually required in only 10 of 60 in whom the cyst fluid was clear or slightly blood‐stained and in 16 of the 28 with heavily blood‐stained fluid. Ultrasound‐guided ovarian cyst puncture would appear to be a valid alternative to surgery for carefully selected benign ovarian cysts especially when the cyst is considered not to contain blood.

This study examines the outcome of 126 twin pregnancies diagnosed by ultrasound examination at 6-16 weeks' gestation. Fifty-nine patients conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer and had a routine scan. The 67 non-IVF pregnancies had a scan for other clinical indications including threatened abortion. When live twins were detected prior to 7 weeks'gestation, only 71% of pregnancies resulted in live twin neonates. Each fetus of a multiple pregnancy had a 19% chance of dying in utero or in the neonatal period of diagnosed prior to 7 weeks, and 11% if both were found to be alive between 7 and 10 weeks. The fetal loss rate was similar for IVF and non-IVF pregnancies.

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