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Biomedical subjects

A C Fleischer

Publications and source records attributed to A C Fleischer.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

The efficacy of early pregnancy monitoring with serial chorionic gonadotropin determinations and real-time sonography in an infertility population.

Ninety-one pregnancies were monitored prospectively with serial human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) determinations and real-time sonography. The monitoring process included an initial hCG doubling time (DT) followed by sonographic examination for fetal heart motion at 7 to 8 weeks in the asymptomatic patient. In women with an abnormal DT or who developed symptoms, repeat hCG determinations and/or sonography were performed. A single DT correctly identified 95% of the successful pregnancies (58) and 64% of the abnormal pregnancies (25 abortions and 8 ectopic gestations) in asymptomatic women. With repeat hCG determinations and/or sonography, 88% of the spontaneous abortions (before aborting) and 100% of the ectopic pregnancies (before tubal rupture) were identified. As a result of the early diagnosis, conservative surgery was performed in six of eight women with tubal pregnancies. The presence of fetal heart motion was a reliable indicator that an intrauterine pregnancy will progress to viability in both the symptomatic (89%) and asymptomatic patient (93%). We conclude that the combined use of serial hCG determinations and real-time sonography provides efficacious monitoring of the early high-risk pregnancy.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Prenatal detection of fetal anomalies with sonography.

This article has presented an overview of the sonographic detection of fetal anomalies. Fortunately, fetal anomalies are relatively rare, but the information that is obtained with sonography can facilitate obstetric management and counseling of the expectant parents.

Bone Diseases, Developmental↗

Uterine adnexal torsion: sonographic findings.

Acute torsion of the uterine adnexal structures (ovary and fallopian tube) is a recognized surgical emergency, but rarely has the diagnosis been made preoperatively on the basis of imaging studies. This report describes 16 cases in which the diagnosis was suggested preoperatively on the basis of sonography and subsequently confirmed at surgery. In all of the patients studied, a pelvic or pelvoabdominal mass was present on sonography. These masses had a sonographic texture ranging from cystic to solid, depending on the presence and extent of internal hemorrhage and/or stromal edema. In the majority of patients (13 of 16), adnexal torsion was associated with a preexisting cystic adnexal mass. Eight of these had thin internal septae. The severity of symptoms was variable and did not correlate directly with the sonographic features of the pelvic mass. Consideration of this entity in the proper clinical setting and with the typical sonographic findings will facilitate prospective recognition of adnexal torsion, thereby improving the chances for salvage of the involved adnexal structures.

Acute Disease↗

Breast sonotomography and high-frequency, hand-held, real-time sonography: a clinical comparison.

The diagnostic quality of breast sonography as performed with a dedicated tomographic unit (ST) and a hand-held, high-frequency, real-time transducer (RT) was evaluated in 76 patients. In 38 per cent of cases, ST was found to be of equal diagnostic quality to RT. The number of instances in which ST was judged to be better than RT was slightly greater than those in which RT was considered better than ST (34 vs. 24 per cent) (P less than or equal to 0.10). In 3 per cent of cases, the diagnostic quality of both ST or RT was considered to be poor. The majority of instances when the diagnostic quality of ST was judged to be better than RT occurred in establishing a negative diagnosis, whereas RT seemed to have greater diagnostic quality than ST in the evaluation of a palpable mass.

Adult↗

Separated chorioamnion and elevated chorion: sonographic features and clinical significance.

The clinical presentation and outcome of pregnancy was analyzed in thirteen patients in whom a free-floating intrauterine membrane was found on sonography. The cases were divided into two groups: those with elevated chorion and those with chorioamniotic separation. Five of seven patients with chorioamniotic separation progressed normally to term and delivered normal infants. In the two pregnancies with chorioamniotic separation that did not progress to term, one was associated with a placental chorioangioma and the other had a dead fetus that had a cystic hygroma indicative of Turner's syndrome. Of the six patients with elevated chorion, all presented with an episode of vaginal bleeding in the early second trimester. Five of six patients with elevated chorion progressed to term with the delivery of normal infants. One patient with extensive elevation of the chorion aborted. Three patients with elevated chorion had a subchorionic clot, whereas this was not present in patients with separated chorioamnion. Follow-up sonographic examination of patients with separated chorioamnion and elevated chorion revealed that most (11 of 13), but not all pregnancies in which an intrauterine membrane was found progressed to term without complications.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Sonographic depiction of endometrial changes occurring with ovulation induction.

Endometrial thickness and texture were evaluated with serial pelvic sonograms in ten normal, menstruating women and 107 patients undergoing ovulation induction for in vitro fertilization. Serial sonograms were performed in the control group every other day throughout the menstrual cycle, whereas the sonographic examinations of the ovulation induction patients were performed daily in a four- to eight-day time interval after their medications were completed and prior to laparoscopy for follicular aspiration. Endometrial thickness increased (defined as a persistent change greater than or equal to 1 mm) in 21 of 53 women (40 percent) who received human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG). Of the 54 women treated with clomiphene citrate (CC), five of 12 (42 percent) at 50 mg daily, 13 of 33 (39 percent) at 100 mg daily, and one of nine (11 percent) at 150 mg daily were found to have endometrial thickening. Although the frequencies of endometrial thickening in the high-dose CC and HMG groups were not significantly different (P = 0.09), the peak estradiol (E2) levels in the CC (150 mg) group (E2 = 944 +/- 165 pg/ml) were significantly higher (P less than 0.001) than those in the HMG group (E2 = 584 +/- 26 pg/ml). The relatively low frequency of endometrial thickening in women receiving CC (150 mg) despite very high E2 levels, and the decreased incidence of endometrial thickening relative to increasing dosages of CC may reflect an antiestrogenic effect of CC on the endometrium. In those patients undergoing ovulation induction, the texture of the endometrium remained the same in 98 cycles and changed during nine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Current perspectives on medical imaging.

Advances in biomedical technology have expanded the potential of medical imaging. Selected aspects of developments in sonography, nuclear medicine, nuclear magnetic resonance and digital imaging are addressed, stressing the wide scope permitted by these newer modalities.

Angiography↗

Antepartum diagnosis of fetal intracranial hemorrhage by ultrasound.

Presented is a patient with acute onset of preeclampsia and abruptio placenta at approximately 26 weeks' gestation. Ultrasonography demonstrated evidence of in utero fetal intracranial hemorrhage, which was confirmed at autopsy. The implication of this finding is discussed.

Adult↗

Combined screening laparoscopy and timed follicle aspiration for human in vitro fertilization.

Twenty-seven patients underwent ultrasonographic and clinical monitoring of a spontaneous cycle so that human chorionic gonadotropin administration could be timed in an attempt to schedule the screening laparoscopy at the optimal time for oocyte aspiration. Inadequate ovarian access was encountered in only 2 of 26 laparoscopies. Seven patients had ovulated by the time of scheduled laparoscopy. Nine mature, seven immature, and three postovulatory oocytes were obtained, and seven embryo transfers were accomplished. The number of eggs obtained per laparoscopy was 0.73. The attempt to control the time of ovulation was unpredictable, few mature oocytes were obtained, and the procedure offered little ultimate benefit to the patient.

Adult↗

Sonographic findings of pancreatitis in children.

The size and echogenicity of the pancreas was evaluated with real-time and static sonography and correlated in an independent and retrospective manner with amylase values in 17 asymptomatic children, 19 children with acute pancreatitis, and 2 with chronic pancreatitis. A ratio of the greatest anteroposterior dimension of the body of the pancreas relative to the transverse lumbar vertebral body measurement (P/V ratio) greater than 0.3, when associated with a hypoechoic pancreatic parenchyma, was indicative of acute pancreatitis. The predictive value of a positive sonogram was found to be 0.93, whereas the predictive value of a negative sonogram was 0.78. These data indicate that sonography is a useful adjunct to amylase determinations in the detection of pancreatitis in children.

Adolescent↗

Palpable breast masses: evaluation by high frequency, hand-held real-time sonography and xeromammography. Work in progress.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic virtues and limitations of the combined use of high frequency, real-time ultrasound scanning (US) using hand-held transducers and xeromammography (XM) in the evaluation of palpable breast masses. Seventy-one patients, who ranged in age from 14 to 88 years and who had histologically proved masses, were examined by both imaging modalities. US demonstrated the highest degree of accuracy in establishing the presence of cysts (96%) and fibroadenomas (89%). XM afforded better overall depiction of the breast and correctly identified seven carcinomas, five of which were prospectively diagnosed by sonography. When all types of breast masses were considered, the combined use of XM and US was more accurate (89%) than when either XM (70%) or US (85%) was used alone. For this reason, a combined approach using both modalities in the examination of most patients with palpable breast masses is advocated. The advantages and limitations of both XM and US in the evaluation of palpable masses are discussed and illustrated.

Adenofibroma↗

Serial sonography of posthemorrhagic ventricular dilatation and porencephaly after intracranial hemorrhage in the preterm neonate.

Changes in ventricular size and brain parenchyma were documented in 40 preterm neonates with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), who were serially examined for 3 weeks or more. Sonography disclosed a close relation between the severity of the intracranial hemorrhage and the development of progressive ventricular dilatation. Eighty percent of preterm neonates with minor degrees of intracranial hemorrhage (localized subependymal hemorrhage or subependymal hemorrhage with small intraventricular hemorrhage [subependymal/intraventricular hemorrhage]) did not develop significant ventricular dilatation, whereas all of the neonates with intraventricular and/or intraparenchymal hemorrhage developed moderate or severe ventricular dilatation. Spontaneous resolution of moderate and/or severe ventricular dilatation occurred by the end of the third week in about one-third of neonates with intracranial hemorrhage. Progressive ventricular dilatation was documented in 10 of 15 neonates with major intraventricular and/or intraparenchymal hemorrhage. The therapeutic implications of the findings are discussed.

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗

Sonographic depiction of changes in ventricular size associated with repeated ventricular aspirations.

Serial real-time cranial sonography was performed on 11 preterm neonates who had demonstrated progressive posthemorrhagic ventricular dilatation and were subjected to repeated ventricular aspirations. Changes in ventricular size were correlated with gestational age, birth weight, and extent and location of the intracranial hemorrhage, as well as the timing, frequency, and location of the ventricular aspirations and the average amount of cerebrospinal fluid removed. The sizes of both lateral ventricles of each neonate were measured and the occurrence of sequelae related to repeated ventricular aspiration was examined. Eleven ventricles diminished in size, eight increased, and there was no change in three. Two neonates had bleeding near the aspiration sites. It is concluded that repeated aspiration can be associated with a diminution in ventricular size in some neonates. It is recommended that alternative methods of treatment, such as serial lumbar puncture or external ventriculostomy, be attempted prior to initiating repeated ventricular aspirations.

Birth Weight↗