SUMMARY The molecular weight distribution of hyaluronate (HA) in synovial fluid (SF) from 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), from six patients with other joint disorders, and from five recently deceased persons without joint affections was investigated by a gel chromatographic procedure. A new and highly specific radioassay was used for determination of the HA concentration in the effluent from the chromatographic column, and this allowed analyses on 0-5 ml or less of untreated synovial fluid. The results confirmed the findings by others that the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of HA in SF from patients with RA (4.8 x 106) was similar to that in other joint diseases (5.0 x 106) and moderately but significantly (p 6 x 106) is in excess in joint disease. The pathological state is therefore characterised not by lack of high molecular weight hyaluronate but by a dilution of it.

The study's objective was to identify HPA 1a-negative women and to offer them an intervention program aimed to reduce morbidity and mortality of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT). HPA 1 typing was performed in 100 448 pregnant women. The HPA 1a-negative women were screened for anti-HPA 1a. In immunized women, delivery was performed by Cesarean section 2 to 4 weeks prior to term, with platelets from HPA 1a-negative donors reserved for immediate transfusion if petechiae were present and/or if platelet count was less than 35 ؋ 10 9 /L. Of the women screened, 2.1% were HPA 1a negative, and anti-HPA 1a was detected in 10.6% of these. One hundred seventy pregnancies were managed according to the intervention program, resulting in 161 HPA 1a-positive children. Of these, 55 had severe thrombocytopenia (< 50 ؋ 10 9 /L), including 2 with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). One woman with a twin pregnancy missed the follow-up and had one stillborn and one severely thrombocytope-

This early-intervention program reduces parenting stress among both mothers and fathers of preterm infants to a level comparable to their term peers. We are now studying whether this will result in long-term beneficial effects.

From parents' point of view, significant proportions of very low birth weight adolescents experience more emotional and behavioral problems and less competence than normative adolescents. In contrast, very low birth weight adolescents state less problems and similar or higher competence than normative adolescents. Very low birth weight adolescent girls report more emotional and behavioral problems compared with their parents than very low birth weight adolescent boys do. Externalizing problems in very low birth weight adolescent girls are often not recognized by parents. To better understand these seemingly paradoxical findings and to develop adequate intervention programs, there is a need for prospective longitudinal studies.

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This modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program improved cognitive outcomes at corrected age of 5 years for children with BWs of <2000 g.

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Eleven thousand one hundred pregnant women were genotyped for human platelet antigen HPA 1, and 198 HPA lbb women were followed in the pregnancy with quantitative assay for anti-HPA la antibodies. Antibodies were detected in 24 women, and nine children were born with severe thrombocytopenia (< 5Ox1O9/L). All mothers with high levels of antibodies were delivered of children with severe thrombocytopenia. None of the newborn infants had clinical signs of intra-cranial haemorrhage. The level of maternal anti-HPA la antibodies is predictive for fetal thrombocytopenia and may be used in decisions related to time and mode of delivery.