Antenatal Patterns of Uterine Activity in Low-Risk Women: A Longitudinal Study

Summary: There is a surprising lack of information on antenatal patterns of uterine activity in the normal obstetric population, with the majority of research having focussed on women at high-risk for preterm birth. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study to investigate patterns of uterine activity in women with singleton gestations at low-risk for preterm birth. Twenty pregnant women were recruited and their uterine activity was recorded using ambulatory tocodynamometry twice weekly throughout the latter half of pregnancy. The collected data were transmitted to a central receiving station for analysis. As gestation advanced there was a progressive increase in the median number of contractions detected per hour, peaking and stabilizing at 37–40 weeks (median of 0 contractions/hour at 20–24 weeks rising to 5.4 contractions/hour at 37–40 weeks). In those women with uterine activity, contraction duration and amplitude of deflection significantly increased as gestation advanced. There was a progressive increase in the number of higher amplitude contractions throughout the third trimester. Increasing parity was not associated with increasing antenatal uterine contraction frequency. No association between normal daily physical activity and uterine contraction frequency was evident throughout gestation. In normal human pregnancy there is a steady, progressive increase in the frequency, duration and amplitude of antenatal uterine activity throughout the latter half of gestation. The uterine contractile profile alters from one of a low amplitude, low frequency pattern in the second trimester to a higher amplitude, higher frequency pattern at term.     

Synchronous video recording of the pharyngeal airway and polysomnograph in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

A system of synchronous, simultaneous video recording of the laryngopharyngeal airway in patients with sleep disorders is described. Observations made during the study of 12 patients are reported. Repeated obstruction of the laryngeal inlet by collapse of the hypopharyngeal musculature is thought to be the primary pathological event in patients suffering with obstructive sleep apnea.     

Neonatal duodenal obstruction with emphasis on cases with Down''s syndrome

In the past 31 years, 47 cases of duodenal obstruction were admitted to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. Thirty-six per cent of these had Down's syndrome. The crude mortality was 48% but this figure was reduced to 33% in the last five years of the study. The combination of duodenal obstruction, Down's syndrome and any other abnormality carried an 89% risk of mortality.     

Pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and disposition of 6-chloro-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-3-methyl-1H-3-benzazepine (SK&F 86466) in rats and dogs

The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of 6-chloro-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-3-methyl-1H-3-benzazepine (SK&F 86466) have been studied in rats and dogs. Using radiolabeled SK&F 86466, it was shown that the compound was completely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract following oral administration. Most of the administered radioactivity (approximately 80%) was excreted in urine with the remainder excreted in feces via the bile. Very little of the parent compound was excreted unchanged in the urine. The major urinary metabolite, accounting for about 55% of the dose in rat and 35% in dog, was the N-oxide. N-Demethylation also occurs in both species, and in the rat approximately 20% of the dose is metabolized by this route. The plasma concentration vs. time curves following iv administration were analyzed using a two-compartment open model. The distribution phase half-life was 0.24 hr in the rat and 0.37 hr in the dog. In both species the terminal half-life was approximately 2 hr. The volume of distribution at steady state in the rat was 12.1 liters/kg and in the dog was 8.2 liters/kg. About 55% of the drug in plasma was bound to protein in both species so that the volume of distribution of the free drug was 27 liters/kg in the rat and 19 liters/kg in the dog. The clearance of SK&F 86466 from blood was very high in both the dog (56 ml/min/kg) and the rat (191 ml/min/kg). Since less than 1% of the compound was excreted unchanged in urine, the clearance was almost entirely metabolic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)