This article is a review to aid clinical diagnosis of ectopic pregnancies that now can be diagnosed earlier and treated effectively by laparoscopic surgery.
Evaluation of the fetal behavior in fetuses with cerebral VM using KANET test has the potential to detect fetuses with abnormal behavior, and to add the dimension of CNS function to the morphological criteria of VM. Long-term postnatal neurodevelopmental follow-up should confirm the data from prenatal investigation of fetal behavior.
Two types of activities were observed: spontaneous and reactive. Although twins showed less activity and different behavioral pattern than singletons, a considerable proportion of overall motility was due to intertwin contacts.
Aims: The primary aim of this study was to compare circulatory changes in the fetal brain under certain pathological conditions with alterations in fetal behavior. Patients and methods: A prospective longitudinal cohort study on fetal behavior of fetuses from singleton pregnancies between the 28 th and 38 th gestational week in the period from March 2009 to October 2011 was undertaken. There were 596 fetuses in the high-risk group and 273 fetuses in the low-risk group. Elevated umbilical artery Doppler pulsatility index and reduced middle cerebral artery pulsatility index obtained in the absence of fetal movements were considered abnormal. The Kurjak Antenatal Neurodevelopmental Test (KANET) was used to assess fetal behavior. Results: Statistically signifi cant differences in the distribution of normal, abnormal, and borderline KANET scores between low-risk and high-risk groups were found. Furthermore, 596 fetuses from the high-risk group were subdivided into subgroups according to the risk factor. The largest proportion of abnormal KANET scores (23.9 % ) was in the subgroup of fetuses whose mothers had an offspring diagnosed with cerebral palsy (23.9 % ), followed by the proportion of borderline KANET scores in the subgroup of fetuses from febrile mothers (12.7 % ). Fetal behavior was signifi cantly different between the normal group and the following subgroups of fetuses: fetal growth restriction (FGR), gestational diabetes mellitus, threatened preterm birth, antepartal hemorrhage, maternal fever, sibling with cerebral palsy, and polyhydramnios. Conclusions: A new clinical application of the KANET test in early identifi cation of fetuses at risk for adverse neurological outcome was demonstrated.
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) can be described as condition in which fetus fails to reach his potential growth. It is common diagnosis in obstetrics, and carries an increased risk of perinatal mortality and morbidity. Moreover, IUGR has lifelong implications on health, especially on neurological outcome. There is a need for additional neurological assessment during monitoring of fetal well-being, in order to better predict antenatally which fetuses are at risk for adverse neurological outcome. Studies have revealed that the behavior of the fetus reflects the maturational processes of the central nervous system (CNS). Hence, ultrasound investigation of the fetal behavior can give us insight into the integrity and functioning of the fetal CNS. Furthermore, investigations carried out using modern method, four-dimensional (4D) sonography, have produced invaluable details of fetal behavior and its development, opening the door to a better understanding of the prenatal functional development of the CNS. Based on previous observations and several years of investigation, our reaserch group has proposed a new scoring system for the assessment of fetal neurological status by 4D sonography named Kurjak antenatal neurodevelopmental test (KANET). The value of KANET in distinguishing fetal brain and neurodevelopmental alterations due to the early brain impairment in utero is yet to be assessed in large population studies. However, preliminary results are very encouraging.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.