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Schoeneck: Fatalities Associated with Abortions
294
May 15,1965
Selected abstracts
Rhod es, P.: The Normal Puerperium Is Ten Days, p. 716.
Munchener Medizinische Wochenschrift Vol. 106, No. 16, April 17, 1964. *Saller, K.: Frequency of Malformation in Bavaria, p. 737. Saller: Frequency of Malformation in Bavaria, p. 737 . The statistical investigations on malformations in Bavaria so far permit a review on more than 6,000 cases. Clubfeet and facial clefts are the most common deformities. Between 1959 and 1962 the previously much rarer malformations of the extremities increased considerably under the influence of thalidomide; the number of ear deformities behaved similarly. The analysis of the different types of deformities with regard to sex, season, and maternal age suggest that a much greater number of external factors play a role in the pathogenesis of the malformations than has been assumed previously. However, the various types of deformities differ in their relation to these external factors. It was found that with the exception of clubfeet, facial clefts, and extrophia of the bladder, the maternal age was slightly higher in these mothers. Seasonal influences appear to influence the formation of clubfeet and facial clefts. Considerable differences were also noted in the sex distribution of the various deformities. W. Tauber New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 270, April 23, 1964. *Rodriguez, S. u., Leikin, S. L., and Hiller, M. C.: Neonatal Thrombocytopenia Associated with Ante-partum Administration of Thiazide Drugs, p. 881. Rodriguez, Leikin, and Hiller: Neonatal Thrombocytopenia Associated . with Antepartum Administration of Thiazide Drugs, p. 881. The authors report 7 cases of thrombocytopenia and other hematologic abnormalities occurring in newborn infants whose mothers were treated with one of the thiazide drugs during the ante-partum period. The infants involved presented no evid~nce . of drug antibody or isoantibody. One baby dIed III the neonatal period; the other patients recovered. The authors suggest that the thrombocytopenia in these cases may have been due to ineffective production of platelets by the bone marrow caused by a nonimmunologie sensitivity
Am.
J. Obs!. & Gyncc.
to the thiazides. None of the mothers exhibited thrombocytopenia. No correlation could be demonstrated between the severity of the cases and the duration and dosage of the thiazides administered, so that the drugs did not appear to be directly myelosuppressive. Douglas M. Haynes
Vol. 271, No. 16, October 15, 1964. Dorsey, J. L.: Changing Attitudes Toward the Massachusetts Birth-Control Law, p. 823.
New York State Journal of Medicine Vol. 64, May 15, 1964. *Schoeneck, F. J.: Fatalities Associated with Abortions, p. 1216. Schoeneck: Fatalities Associated with Abortions, p. 1216.
Case reports of deaths associated with various types of abortions occurring in New York State during the past 6 years arc reviewed . Ninetyone ease reports of such deaths were received by the Subcommittee on Maternal and Child Welfare. The 91 deaths are not the total number associated with abortions, since not all cases were reported to the Subcommittee for analyses. Forty-one of the deaths followed induced abortions. The classification of the cause of death in the 70 cases of criminal and self-induced abortion was as follows : generalized sepsis and renal failure (27), generalized sepsis (22), emboli of various types ( 10), and respiratory failure immediately following dilatation and curettage for incomplete infected abortion (2). There was 1 each of the following: generalized sepsis and renal failure due to a drug used for induction, multiple hemorrhages resulting from a selfadministered drug, renal failure resulting from a self-administered drug, toxic hepatitis secondary to Lysol poisoning, multiple hemorrhages due to infeeted abortion in a patient with cardiac disease, cardiac arrest following dilatation and curettage for incomplete infected abortion, pulmonary tuberculosis (bronchopneumonia ) associated with septic abortion, pneumonia subsequent to infected abortion, and generalized sepsis following a spontaneous infected abortion with associated afibrinogenemia. R euben H . Adams
Vol. 64, No . 19, October 1, 1964. Bruno, M . S., and Ober, W. R.: Term Delivery Followed by Acute Renal Failure, p. 2450.
May 15,1965
Selected abstracts
Rhod es, P.: The Normal Puerperium Is Ten Days, p. 716.
Munchener Medizinische Wochenschrift Vol. 106, No. 16, April 17, 1964. *Saller, K.: Frequency of Malformation in Bavaria, p. 737. Saller: Frequency of Malformation in Bavaria, p. 737 . The statistical investigations on malformations in Bavaria so far permit a review on more than 6,000 cases. Clubfeet and facial clefts are the most common deformities. Between 1959 and 1962 the previously much rarer malformations of the extremities increased considerably under the influence of thalidomide; the number of ear deformities behaved similarly. The analysis of the different types of deformities with regard to sex, season, and maternal age suggest that a much greater number of external factors play a role in the pathogenesis of the malformations than has been assumed previously. However, the various types of deformities differ in their relation to these external factors. It was found that with the exception of clubfeet, facial clefts, and extrophia of the bladder, the maternal age was slightly higher in these mothers. Seasonal influences appear to influence the formation of clubfeet and facial clefts. Considerable differences were also noted in the sex distribution of the various deformities. W. Tauber New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 270, April 23, 1964. *Rodriguez, S. u., Leikin, S. L., and Hiller, M. C.: Neonatal Thrombocytopenia Associated with Ante-partum Administration of Thiazide Drugs, p. 881. Rodriguez, Leikin, and Hiller: Neonatal Thrombocytopenia Associated . with Antepartum Administration of Thiazide Drugs, p. 881. The authors report 7 cases of thrombocytopenia and other hematologic abnormalities occurring in newborn infants whose mothers were treated with one of the thiazide drugs during the ante-partum period. The infants involved presented no evid~nce . of drug antibody or isoantibody. One baby dIed III the neonatal period; the other patients recovered. The authors suggest that the thrombocytopenia in these cases may have been due to ineffective production of platelets by the bone marrow caused by a nonimmunologie sensitivity
Am.
J. Obs!. & Gyncc.
to the thiazides. None of the mothers exhibited thrombocytopenia. No correlation could be demonstrated between the severity of the cases and the duration and dosage of the thiazides administered, so that the drugs did not appear to be directly myelosuppressive. Douglas M. Haynes
Vol. 271, No. 16, October 15, 1964. Dorsey, J. L.: Changing Attitudes Toward the Massachusetts Birth-Control Law, p. 823.
New York State Journal of Medicine Vol. 64, May 15, 1964. *Schoeneck, F. J.: Fatalities Associated with Abortions, p. 1216. Schoeneck: Fatalities Associated with Abortions, p. 1216.
Case reports of deaths associated with various types of abortions occurring in New York State during the past 6 years arc reviewed . Ninetyone ease reports of such deaths were received by the Subcommittee on Maternal and Child Welfare. The 91 deaths are not the total number associated with abortions, since not all cases were reported to the Subcommittee for analyses. Forty-one of the deaths followed induced abortions. The classification of the cause of death in the 70 cases of criminal and self-induced abortion was as follows : generalized sepsis and renal failure (27), generalized sepsis (22), emboli of various types ( 10), and respiratory failure immediately following dilatation and curettage for incomplete infected abortion (2). There was 1 each of the following: generalized sepsis and renal failure due to a drug used for induction, multiple hemorrhages resulting from a selfadministered drug, renal failure resulting from a self-administered drug, toxic hepatitis secondary to Lysol poisoning, multiple hemorrhages due to infeeted abortion in a patient with cardiac disease, cardiac arrest following dilatation and curettage for incomplete infected abortion, pulmonary tuberculosis (bronchopneumonia ) associated with septic abortion, pneumonia subsequent to infected abortion, and generalized sepsis following a spontaneous infected abortion with associated afibrinogenemia. R euben H . Adams
Vol. 64, No . 19, October 1, 1964. Bruno, M . S., and Ober, W. R.: Term Delivery Followed by Acute Renal Failure, p. 2450.