Neonatal outcome was mainly affected by prematurity rather than by preterm premature rupture of membranes.

Both adolescents and women of advanced reproductive age comprise distinct groups of obstetrics patients. Each has special needs and is susceptible to different obstetric risks. Pregnant teenagers appear to be at increased risk for poor maternal weight gain, abortions, hypertensive disorders and delivery of low birthweight infants. Pregnant women over the age of 34 have an increased risk for a poor obstetric outcome as a result of an increased risk for chromosomal aneuploidies and their higher likelihood of having a chronic disease, such as chronic hypertension or diabetes mellitus, to complicate their pregnancies. This study emphasises the increased maternal and fetal risks for pregnancies at these extreme age groups in a retrospective way. Prepregnancy counselling is essential for these age groups in order for a woman to be able to make an informed decision regarding the timing of childbearing.

Early postpartum high-dose corticosteroid treatment accelerates the recovery and shortens the hospitalization of the parturients with HELLP syndrome.

No abstract

Digital examination and transvaginal ultrasound of the cervix predict successful labor induction with reasonable accuracy.

In order to determine the incidence of confined placental mosaicism (CPM) in term placentae and to show the presence of specific sites and the effect on fetal development, 125 placentae from uneventful pregnancies were analysed by cytogenetic methods. The incidence was at least 4.8 per cent and there were no specific sites on the placenta. Although the number of cases is still too small, we found CPM to be associated with intrauterine growth retardation in six cases.

High apoptotic nuclei counts were found in fetal membranes of pPROM.

No abstract