Misoprostol and first trimester pregnancy termination

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the efficacy of vaginal administration of 800 microg misoprostol as a single dose without performing post expulsion systematic curettage in first trimester pregnancy termination.

METHOD

113 women, aged 16-44, who requested first trimester pregnancy termination, received 800 microg of vaginal misoprostol. All examined women were divided into two groups depending on gestation age. The first group included of 67 women with up to nine weeks and the second of 46 with up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

RESULTS

Abortion occurred within 24 hours and was completed in 74.3% of the cases. The mean induction-abortion interval was 5.9 +/- 1.7 hours (median 5.5 hours). Side-effects were experienced by 24 women (21.2%). There was no significant difference between groups in the success rate, induction-abortion interval, number of previous deliveries and side-effects.

CONCLUSION

Misoprostol is an effective agent for first trimester medical termination.

Umbilical cord serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in normal pregnancies and in pregnancies complicated by preterm delivery or pre-eclampsia

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to determine whether increased levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are implicated in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia and in preterm delivery.

METHODS

Umbilical cord serum VEGF levels from women with uncomplicated term pregnancies (control group, n=24), with pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia (n=21), or with preterm delivery (n=29) were compared. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U-test, the t-test, and Smirnoff-Kolmogorov test.

RESULTS

The mean VEGF concentration was significantly higher in the women with pre-eclampsia than in women from the control group (P<0.01). There were also increased but not significantly higher VEGF concentrations in the preterm delivery group compared with the control group (P=0.16).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study results support previous findings that raised umbilical cord serum VEGF levels might be correlated with the clinical development of pre-eclampsia and, in some circumstances, of preterm delivery.

Interleukin-6 levels in umbilical artery serum in normal and abnormal pregnancies

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study was to determine the correlation of abnormal umbilical artery interleukin-6 levels with pregnancies complicated by preterm delivery and pre-eclampsia.

METHOD

Cord serum (umbilical artery) was collected at delivery by cesarean section or spontaneous delivery. Samples were retrieved from patients with normal and abnormal pregnancies. Patients were divided into three groups: group 1, a control group of samples from uncomplicated pregnancies (n = 24); group 2, patients with pre-eclampsia (n = 21); and group 3, patients having had preterm delivery (n = 29). Interleukin-6 was measured by bioassays. Statistics were performed with the Mann-Whitney U-, Student's t- and the Kruskal-Wallis tests.

RESULTS

Interleukin-6 levels in women with preterm delivery were statistically higher compared to those of normal pregnancies (P < 0.05) and lower in the cord serum of pre-eclamptic when compared to those of normal pregnancies (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we believe that further investigations could elucidate the role of this pleiotropic cytokine in both, normal and pathologic reproductive biology, and determine the clinical utility of IL-6 measurements in obstetric practice.