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During the years 1970-1977, 234 pregnant diabetics were treated in Oslo. A regimen of close metabolic and obstetric control was used. The total perinatal mortality was 4.3%, and 3.1% in 160 patients followed from before week 28. In 74% of patients mean blood glucose (determined 4 times daily) during the last 5-6 weeks of pregnancy was below 6 mmol/1 and in only one patient above 8 mmol/1. There was a low incidence of ketoacidosis (5 patients), pyelonephritis (3 patients), and severe preeclampsia (1 patient), although mild to moderate preeclampsia occurred in 28 patients. Preeclampsia was not associated with foetal loss. Macrosomia was rare. Respiratory distress occurred in 33 infants, in most cases light to moderate. Two foetal deaths were associated with respiratory distress. Progression of retinopathy was frequent, and appearance of or progression of proliferative changes occurred in 15 patients with retinopathy before pregnancy. Loss of visual acuity was rare, and reading vision was not lost by any patients. Induced vaginal delivery has been used in half the deliveries during the last years, whereas Caesarean section was preferred during the first years. Mean duration of pregnancy at delivery has been 260 days, 256 days during the first four years, and 262 days during the last four.

An extensive literature has grown up concerning the respiratory complications of the premature infant. I n spite of this, the number of wellestablished facts is still relatively small.Through blood gas determinations the author has made an attempt to clarify the respiratory situation in a number of premature infants. The study includes examination of 9 infants without any respiratory difficulties and of 12 infants who were in serious respiratory distress.This publication is the first of a series of three. Here, the laboratory methods are described, and the results obtained on premature infants without any respiratory complications are reported.Earlier investigations indicate that premature infants, in cases without neonatal complications, probably do not suffer from severe respiratory insufficiency. The arterial oxygen saturation seems to differ very little from normal values for adults (GRAHAM and co-workers, JONXIS). The acid-base conditions in a large number of premature infants have been investigated by REARDON and co-workers. The average CO, tension in this material was 38 mm Hg, which does not differ much from that of normal adults. The results showed a relatively wide spread, however, and in 10 per cent of the cases a respiratory acidosis was present.This study on normal prematures represents a re-investigation of the problem, in which a somewhat different laboratory method has been employed. It is, besides, a necessary basis for evaluating the displacements in the values which are seen in premature infants suffering from severe respiratory complications.

Abstract. Sixteen premature infants were treated with indomethacin, either orally or intravenously, in order to close a symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus requiring mechanical ventilation. Positive effect was obtained in 4 of the 10 orally treated patients and in 1 of the 6 with intravenous administration. Immediate side effects were impairment of renal function, abdominal distension, and restlessness.Although the oxygen administration was guided using a transcutaneous oxymonitor, three severe cases of retrolental fibroplasia occurred. As indomethacin is a nonselective inhibitor of all prostaglandins, it might also cause a constriction of the retinal arteries, and as such be a factor in the development of retrolental fibroplasia in small premature infants.

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