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- Westgren, N, et al.
(author)
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Pregnancy and delivery in women with a traumatic spinal cord injury in Sweden, 1980-1991.
- 1993
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In: Obstetrics and Gynecology. - 0029-7844 .- 1873-233X. ; 81:6, s. 926-30
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence of delivery in women after a traumatic spinal cord injury and to describe pregnancy outcome in this group of patients.METHODS: Between 1980-1991, 29 women with a traumatic spinal cord injury experienced 49 pregnancies and gave birth to 52 children in Sweden. A retrospective chart review of the antepartum, intrapartum, and perinatal records of these patients was performed. In addition, all patients participated in a telephone interview held by one of the authors. Of the 29 women, 12 had lesions above T5 and 17 had lesions at T5 or below.RESULTS: Antenatal complications occurred frequently in this group. Nine of 12 patients with lesions above T5 had symptoms of autonomic hyperreflexia during pregnancy and/or delivery. Only in a minority of the women was the problem recognized by the medical professionals. Nine of the infants (19%) were born preterm and two were small for gestational age. The perinatal mortality rate was two of 52 (3.8%) and occurred in two cases of abruptio placentae. Few of the patients were allowed to deliver vaginally. The cesarean delivery rate for women with lesions above T5 was 47% and for women with lesions below that level, 26%.CONCLUSION: The overall prognosis for these women was favorable. However, women with higher spinal cord lesions would probably benefit from referral to centers with a particular interest and expertise in the management of their problems.
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- Eneroth-Grimfors, E, et al.
(author)
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Autonomic cardiovascular control in normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancy.
- 1994
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In: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. - : Wiley. - 0001-6349 .- 1600-0412. ; 73:9, s. 680-4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia is regarded as a primary placental disorder, in which defect placentation causes endothelial and cardiovascular disturbances. Evidence of disturbed neural cardiovascular control in this condition has been suggested, as well as in other hypertensive diseases. The purpose of the present study was to non-invasively evaluate the sympathovagal balance during normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancy. METHODS: In twelve healthy pregnant women, thirteen pre-eclamptic women and ten nonpregnant controls, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing movements were registered and recorded on a tape recorder for off-line analysis. Variability in heart rate, blood pressure and breathing movements were computed by an autoregressive spectral analysis algorithm. Heart rate variability was quantitated as the area under the spectral curve, and Student's t-test was performed on logarithmic values. RESULTS: Heart rate variability contained two major components in power, a low frequency peak predominantly attributed to sympathetic tone, and a high frequency peak reflecting vagal tone. Women with pre-eclampsia were characterized by a significantly reduced high frequency peak compared to healthy pregnant (p = 0.03) and non-pregnant (p = 0.02) women. In the low frequency band there were no significant differences in power between the groups. Blood pressure variability did not differ between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The present results indicate that pre-eclampsia is associated with decreased vagal control of the heart. Furthermore, the results indicate that pregnancy per se does not change sympatho-vagal balance.
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