Oxytocin and vasopressin receptors in human and uterine myomas during menstrual cycle and early pregnancy.
(1/461)
The purpose of this study was to determine the specificity and concentration of oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) binding sites in non-pregnant (NP) human and rhesus monkey endometrium, myometrium and fibromyomas, and to determine the cellular localization of OT receptor (OTR). Besides [3H]AVP, [125I]LVA, a specific VP1 receptor subtype antagonist, was used to determine vasopressin receptor (VPR) concentrations. Samples were obtained from 42 pre-menopausal and three pregnant women (5, 13 and 35 weeks gestation), and several NP and pregnant monkeys. Specificity of binding was assessed in competition experiments with unlabelled agonists and antagonists of known pharmacological potency. Cellular localization of OTR was determined by immunohistochemistry. In NP human uterine tissues, [3H]AVP was bound with higher affinity and greater binding capacity than [3H]OT, whereas in pregnant women and in NP and pregnant rhesus monkeys, uterine OT binding capacity was greater. OT and AVP binding sites discriminated very poorly between OT and AVP; [125I]LVA binding sites were more selective than [3H]AVP. Their ligand specificity and binding kinetics indicated the presence of two distinct populations of binding sites for OT and AVP in primate uterus. Endometrium of NP women and monkeys had low OTR and VPR concentrations. Myometrial and endometrial OTR and VPR were down-regulated in midcycle and in early human pregnancy, they were up-regulated in the secretory phase and second half of pregnancy. Immunoreactive OTR in NP uterus was localized in patches of myometrial muscle cells and small numbers of endometrial epithelial cells. (+info)
Primary aldosteronism with aldosterone-producing adrenal adenoma in a pregnant woman.
(2/461)
A 30-year-old pregnant woman complained of muscle weakness at 29 weeks' gestation. She was hypertensive with severe hypokalemia. Lower plasma renin activity and higher aldosterone level than the normal values in pregnancy suggested primary aldosteronism. A cesarean delivery was performed at 31 weeks' gestation because of pulmonary congestion. The neonatal course was uncomplicated. The laparoscopic adrenalectomy for a 2.0-cm right adrenal adenoma resulted in normalizing of her blood pressure and serum potassium level. Although primary aldosteronism is rare, especially during pregnancy, it should be always considered as one of etiologies of hypertension in pregnancy. (+info)
Management of breast cancer during pregnancy using a standardized protocol.
(3/461)
PURPOSE: No standardized therapeutic interventions have been reported for patients diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy. Of the potential interventions, none have been prospectively evaluated for treatment efficacy in the mother or safety for the fetus. We present our experience with the use of combination chemotherapy for breast cancer during pregnancy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During the past 8 years, 24 pregnant patients with primary or recurrent cancer of the breast were managed by outpatient chemotherapy, surgery, or surgery plus radiation therapy, as clinically indicated. The chemotherapy included fluorouracil (1,000 mg/m2), doxorubicin (50 mg/m2), and cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2), administered every 3 to 4 weeks after the first trimester of pregnancy. Care was provided by medical oncologists, breast surgeons, and perinatal obstetricians. RESULTS: Modified radical mastectomy was performed in 18 of the 22 patients, and two patients were treated with segmental mastectomy with postpartum radiation therapy. This group included patients in all trimesters of pregnancy. The patients received a median of four cycles of combination chemotherapy during pregnancy. No antepartum complications temporally attributable to systemic therapy were noted. The mean gestational age at delivery was 38 weeks. Apgar scores, birthweights, and immediate postpartum health were reported to be normal for all of the children. CONCLUSION: Breast cancer can be treated with chemotherapy during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy with minimal complications of labor and delivery. (+info)
Apoptosis in nontumorous and neoplastic human pituitaries: expression of the Bcl-2 family of proteins.
(4/461)
Analyses of apoptosis and of the apoptosis regulatory proteins Bcl-2, Bax, Bcl-X, and Bad were done in 95 nontumorous and neoplastic pituitary tissues by terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL), immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting. The apoptotic index was relatively low in all groups but was at least fourfold higher in pituitary carcinomas compared with any other groups. Pituitaries from pregnant and postpartum women had a fivefold higher apoptotic index compared with matched controls from nonpregnant females. Preoperative treatment of adenomas with octreotide or dopamine agonists did not change the apoptotic index significantly. The lowest levels of Bcl-2, Bax, and Bcl-X expression were in pituitary carcinomas as detected by immunostaining. An immortalized human pituitary adenoma cell line, HP75, developed in our laboratory using a replication-defective recombinant human adenovirus with an early large T-antigen, had a much higher level of apoptosis than nontumorous and neoplastic pituitaries. Treatment with transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 and protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors increased apoptosis in this cell line. Analysis of the Bcl-2 family of proteins after treatment with TGF-beta1 and PKC inhibitors showed a 20% to 30% decrease in Bcl-X in the treated groups compared with controls. These results, which represent the first study of apoptosis in pituitaries from pregnant and postpartum cases and in pituitary carcinomas, indicate that 1) the apoptotic rate is low in nontumorous and neoplastic pituitary tissues but is relatively higher in pituitary carcinomas, 2) there are alterations in the expression of the Bcl-2 family of proteins in pituitary neoplasms with a decrease in Bcl-2 expression in pituitary carcinomas that may contribute to pituitary tumor pathogenesis and/or proliferation, and 3) cultured pituitary tumor cells respond to TGF-beta1 and PKC inhibitors by undergoing apoptotic cell death. (+info)
Focal aneurysmal dilatation of subchorionic vessels simulating chorioangioma.
(5/461)
Subchorionic vascular aneurysms of the placenta are rare lesions and may present confusion with chorioangioma or focal mesenchymal dysplasia on sonography. To our knowledge, the findings of placental aneurysms have not been reported in the ultrasound literature. We present a case with detailed sonographic evaluation, including spectral and color Doppler and pathological analysis, that was mistaken for chorioangioma prenatally. Knowledge of this benign entity may allow the sonologist to recommend conservative management in similar cases. (+info)
Delivery of a severely anaemic fetus after partial molar pregnancy: clinical and ultrasonographic findings.
(6/461)
The incidence of a normal live fetus and a partial molar placenta is extremely rare. Although triploidy is the most frequent association, a fetus with normal karyotype can survive in cases of partial molar pregnancy. We report a case of partial molar placenta in which a live female baby was delivered at 32 weeks gestation by a 30-year-old woman. At the 18th week, ultrasonographic examination revealed a normal fetus with a huge, multicystic placenta. Chromosomal evaluation by amniocentesis revealed a normal female karyotype (46,XX), and serial biometric measurement of the fetus showed normal growth during pregnancy. There were no obstetric complications until the 32nd gestational week when preterm rupture of the membranes occurred. The electronic fetal heart beat tracing showed a repeated sinusoid pattern and late deceleration after admission. The patient underwent emergency Caesarean section and delivered a 1551-g, anaemic female baby with an Apgar score of 1, 4 and 6 at 1, 5 and 10 min, respectively. The baby recovered within 2 weeks after respiratory support and transfusion of packed red blood cells. Although anaemia is one of the risk factors that jeopardize the fetus in the case of partial molar pregnancy, termination is not indicated when the fetus is normal and no complications have occurred. (+info)
Management of differentiated thyroid cancer diagnosed during pregnancy.
(7/461)
OBJECTIVE: To assess the outcome of thyroid cancer diagnosed during pregnancy. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed between 1949 and 1997 with thyroid cancer presenting during pregnancy. RESULTS: Nine women with a median age of 28 years were identified. A thyroid nodule was discovered by the clinician during routine antenatal examination in four cases, the remainder had noted a lump in the neck. In all patients, the nodule was reported to almost double in size during the pregnancy. One patient underwent subtotal thyroidectomy during the second trimester; eight were operated on within 3 to 10 months from delivery. Total thyroidectomy was performed in five and subtotal thyroidectomy in four. All tumours were well differentiated and ranged in size from 1 to 6 cm. OUTCOME: The median follow-up was 14 years (5-31 years). One patient relapsed locally requiring further surgery. One patient developed bone metastases dying 7 years after presentation; her planned treatment had been delayed because of an intervening pregnancy. Eight of the original cohort of patients are currently disease free. CONCLUSIONS: Differentiated thyroid cancer presenting in pregnancy generally has an excellent prognosis. When the disease is discovered early in pregnancy, surgery should be considered in the second trimester but radioiodine scans and treatment can be safely delayed until after delivery. In all cases, treatment should not be delayed for more than a year. (+info)
Management of cancer in pregnancy: a case of Ewing's sarcoma of the pelvis in the third trimester.
(8/461)
Ewing's sarcoma of the pelvic bones was diagnosed in a 21-year childbearing woman, raising major medical and ethical problems. The diagnostic and therapeutic approaches during the sixth month of gestation were tailored in order to cure the patient and avoid unnecessary toxicity to the fetus. Ancillary tests included ultrasound and MRI studies of the pelvis. Ifosfamide and adriamycin, premedicated by granisetron, were administered during gestation, and were found to be safe. Cesarean section was the preferred way of delivery since the tumor involved the pelvic bones. The outcome was a disease-free patient and a small healthy baby who is now two years of age. (+info)