HELLP Syndrome: an Often Unrecognized Complication of Preeclampsia

We describe a case of preeclampsia with the HELLP (Haemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelets) syndrome and highlight the delayed diagnosis due to its nonspecific presentation. This syndrome is associated with significant maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity and we discuss the importance of early recognition of the condition, aggressive management and a multidisciplinary approach.     

Effects of subcutaneous melatonin implants during long daylength on voluntary feed intake, rumen capacity and heart rate of red deer (Cervus elaphus) fed on a forage diet.

Subcutaneous melatonin implants were administered to castrated hand-reared male red deer (Cervus elaphus) during a 63 d period in spring, after which effects on voluntary feed intake (VFI), rumen pool size, rumen capacity (i.e. volume) and heart rate were measured on four occasions, evenly spread over a 12-month period, with the deer individually fed indoors on a diet of lucerne (Medicago sativa) chaff. Blood samples for hormone determinations were taken at intervals throughout the study. Day-time plasma melatonin concentration was approximately 5 pg/ml in control animals, whereas during melatonin administration it increased to 60-150 pg/ml and declined to 30 pg/ml by 142 d after the last implantation. Melatonin administration markedly depressed plasma prolactin concentration during the period of implantation, but thereafter plasma prolactin concentration rose in the treated animals during autumn and winter, whilst it declined in control animals over this period. VFI, rumen pool size and heart rate in control animals attained highest values in summer and lowest values in winter, showing a pronounced seasonal cycle. Melatonin administration depressed all these values in late spring and summer and increased all the values in autumn and winter, relative to control animals, and appeared to move the cycles by approximately 6 months. Melatonin-treated animals showed maximum values for all these measurements during winter. The castrated male deer showed little seasonal change in live weight, which was not affected by melatonin administration. The findings support the view that melatonin probably mediates the effect of daylength on digestive function in red deer. Rumen capacity remained relatively constant throughout the year, but rumen pool size as a proportion of rumen capacity increased with increasing VFI.     

The desipramine-induced growth hormone response and the dexamethasone suppression test in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Ten patients with DSM-III-R obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) underwent the desipramine (DMI) growth hormone (GH) stimulation test as well as the dexamethasone suppression test (DST). The results were compared with the responses in a group of matched healthy controls. The GH response to DMI did not differ between patients and controls and 9 of 10 patients showed cortisol suppression in response to dexamethasone. The data suggest that neither alpha 2 adrenergic dysfunction nor DST non-suppression are features of primary OCD.     

Measurement of depression in dementia: Self vs clinician rating

The presence of depression was evaluated in a cross-section of 50 outpatients with dementia using the self-rated Geriatric Depression Scale and the clinician-rated Cornell Depression Scale. Impaired insight, as manifested by unawareness of dementia, correlated with dementia severity and discriminated a group of patients in whom the self-rated scale failed to show evidence of depression. Discrepancy between the two types of scales occurred among mildly as well as moderately demented patients when insight was impaired. Recognition of this discrepancy suggests that reliance on self-ratings may underestimate the presence and degree of depression among patients with dementia.     

Levodopa improves physical fatigue in Parkinson's disease: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study.

We quantitatively investigated the effect of carbidopa/levodopa (25/100) on physical fatigue during finger tapping and force generation in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Parkinson's disease (PD) subjects were randomly assigned to carbidopa/levodopa or placebo for Visit 1 or 2 and participated in the following two studies: (1) Finger tapping. Twenty-five PD patients used their index fingers to strike two keys 20 cm apart on a musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) keyboard. The slopes of the regression line of dwell time and movement time were used to assess the rate of fatigue development. (2) Force generation. Twelve PD patients contracted the wrist extensors maximally to obtain a baseline maximum voluntary contraction (BMVC) force. Then they repetitively contracted the wrist extensors at 50% of the BMVC for 7 seconds and rested for 3 seconds. An interval maximum voluntary contraction (IMVC) was measured every three repetitions. Fatigue was defined as an IMVC of less than 60% of the BMVC. The slope of the regression line of IMVC was used to assess the rate of force decline. These two studies were repeated 1 hour after carbidopa/levodopa (25/100) or placebo. Subjects filled out the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) at the beginning of the first visit. Results showed that the slope of dwell time decreased with levodopa but not with placebo (P = 0.004). The rate of force decline also decreased with levodopa but not with placebo (P = 0.01). The subscores in the dimension of physical fatigue in the MFI did not correlate with the rate changes in dwell time or the rate changes in force decline. We concluded that (1) levodopa improves physical fatigue in finger tapping and force generation, (2) physical fatigue in Parkinson's disease is at least partially related to dopamine deficiency, and (3) the MFI measures different aspects of physical fatigue compared with those measured by finger tapping and force generation.     

The relationship of drinking and birth outcome in a US national sample of expectant mothers

Alcohol consumption by pregnant women and birth outcome were studied in 9953 livebirths, 3309 fetal deaths and 5332 infant deaths from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey. In crude analyses, race, age, mother's education, prenatal care, parity, low birthweight, gestational age, smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy were significantly related to the occurrence of fetal deaths and infant deaths. Among women having livebirths, race, age, mother's education, prenatal care, prematurity, gestational age, smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy were significantly related to having a low birthweight baby (< 2500 g). In this group, women who drank more during pregnancy also smoked more, were younger and less educated than women who drank at lower levels or not at all. The relationship of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and infant birthweight for those women having livebirths was studied using multivariable linear regression. The results indicated that race, mother's education, baby's sex, parity, mother's height, mother's body mass index and smoking, but not alcohol consumption, were significantly related to birthweight. Multivariable logistic regressions were performed for the occurrence of low birthweight, fetal death and infant death. The effect of alcohol was significant in all these analyses. These results indicate that alcohol has an important relationship with birth outcome, but that for the drinking reported in this study, the alcohol effect on mean birthweight is small relative to that of other risk factors, accounting for the non-significant result in the multiple linear regression.