BACKGROUND: Female urinary incontinence often manifests itself for the first time during pregnancy in a great number of women (23-50%). In many cases it is transitory in nature, the result of the stress induced by the pregnancy on the pelvic floor. In this study the authors discuss the frequency of urinary incontinence on the basis of a questionnaire administered to a limited sample group of obstetrics patients in order to identify the potential risk factors and to plan protective and rehabilitative strategies for the pelvic floor both during pregnancy and before and after delivery. METHODS: From November 1998 until June 1999 at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic of the University of L'Aquila (Italy) 150 women were surveyed by written questionnaire both before delivery and on the second day following delivery. Those who were identified as having urinary incontinence during pregnancy were readministered the questionnaire at three months following delivery. RESULTS: Urinary incontinence was reported during pregnancy by 48% of the women under examination, which appeared, for the most part, during the third trimester of the pregnancy (in 43% of the women). No differences related to age were discovered, while a cesarean section played a protective role. For women with preexisting IUS the new pregnancy was an aggravating factor. Of the women with IUS during pregnancy who did not demonstrate preexisting symptoms only 9.4% reported persistent urinary incontinence at three months following delivery. Among women pregnant for the first time with persistent symptoms all had received episiotomies by the third month following delivery. CONCLUSIONS: The authors of this study wish to direct their attention to the identification of women with IUS during pregnancy so that damage from delivery can be reduced to a minimum and rehabilitation strategies for the functioning of the pelvic floor can be imitated as soon as possible.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Bone mineral density in the growing human mandible.

The objective of this study was to investigate bone mineral density (BMD) in the growing human mandible by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, comparing densitometric data with the nature of the dentition and hence, indirectly, with variation of mechanical stresses. Postero-anterior scans were performed on 58 dried mandibles (between 15 months and 14 years) by a Hologic QDR 1000 X-ray densitometer with "Ultra-Hi-Resolution" software (Hologic Inc., Waltham, MA). The analyses were performed on a polygonal area corresponding to the infero-median region of the mandibular body, and divided into three sections. The sample was divided into two groups according to the appearance of the first permanent molar. A high correlation is detectable between BMD values and age in the group with decidual dentition, while BMD values are significantly less correlated with age in the group with mixed dentition. There are no significant differences between the BMD values of males and females.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cisplatin ototoxicity in the Sprague Dawley rat evaluated by distortion product otoacoustic emissions.

The present study has evaluated the use of distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) responses in the detection of cisplatin-induced ototoxicity in a Sprague Dawley rat animal model. The cisplatin was administered as a 16 mg/kg, dose introduced by a slow 30-min intraperitoneal infusion. Data from three DP-gram protocols, DPOAE input-output responses at 8 kHz, and auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) at 8, 12 and 16 kHz were collected before and 72 h after treatment. The post-treatment ABRs at 16 kHz showed the greatest mean threshold shift of 33.6 dB. The post-treatment DP-gram data showed significant reduction of the signal to noise ratios in the majority of the frequencies tested, across all tested protocols. The data suggest that the most sensitive DPOAE procedure for the early detection of the cisplatin-induced ototoxic damage is the DPOAE I/O protocol. Morphological analyses indicated that the inner hair cells remained intact, while several types of alterations were observed in the arrangement of the stereocilia in the outer hair cells.

Animals↗