The question of clinical and roentgenologic evaluation of overterm pregnancy

140 Verhage, J. Monatschr.

AMERICAN

JOURKAL

C.: The Significance I. Geburtsh. u. Gynak.

OR

OBQTETRICS

AND

of Ketonemia 113: 1, 1942.

and

GPPiECOLOGY

Ketonm-ia

in

Pre~na~cy~

No rise in the amount of ketone bodies of the blood was found in pregnancy. When ketonemia is found during pregnancy or labor especially when it occurs in women with hyperemesis, it is the resclt of insufficient food intake. The rise in the amount of ketone bodies in the blood and urine as a result of starvation varies considerably in pregnant women. Ketoncmia and ketonuria quickly disappear after sufficient intake of food. J. P. GREENHILL. Balbi, J.: Pregnancy,

The

Question Monatschr.

of Clinical f. Geburtsh.

and Eoentgenologic u. GynLk. 113:

Evaluation 121; 1942.

of

Overterm

The author attempted to discover signs which would reveal definite postmaturity. He came to the conclusion that there was only one way of deciding that a normal period of pregnancy had been passed. The criterion is the size of the abdomen. If the abdomen does not increase in size, or if it decreases after the calculated date, we may assume that pregnancy is going beyond term, The size of the child cannot be used as a criterion. Likewise, roentgenologically, the ossification centers of the bones eannot be used to judge the duration of pregnancy. J. P. GREENHII~L. Fontava, G.: f. Geburtsh.

The Mineral Composition u. Gynlik. 113: 57, 1942.

of

the

Hones

in

Pregnancy,

Monatschr.

Investigation of the mineral composition of the femurs of pregnant guinea pigs showed that there is very little change in the calcium phosphate content during various stages of pregnancy. The number of young play no role. The author maintains that the minerals necessary for the development of the fetal skeleton under physiologic conditions are derived from the nourishment from the mother. The maternal bone reserves are not tapped. J. P, GREENHILL.

Bickers, William: M. J. 35: 593,

‘ ‘The 1942.

Placenta:

A

Modified

Arteriovenous

Fistula,’

’ South.

Burweli first suggested that most of the cireulatorv alterations occurring during pregnancy could be explained by assuming the placenta to be a modified arteriovenous fistula. The author repeated his work on the femoral venous pressures in pregnancy and made some original observations which confirm Burwell~s thesis. The anatomic and physiologic basis for this concept is briefly outlined. In a series of twenty-three primigravid patients, the femoral venous pressures and arm pressure w-ere measured in the last weeks of pregnancy, the determinations being made on the same day. The results were correlated with the presence of lower extremity edema, which was measured with a centimeter tape, and with the site of placental attachment as determined by intrauterine palpation at the completion of the second stage of labor. Labor started spontaneously in all the patients, and, with the single exception of cesarean section performed for central placenta previa, delivery was accomplished by outlet forceps. Whereas, in nonpregnant women, venous pressures in the arms and legs are approximately the same, in pregnancy the venous pressure of the lower extremities averages 100 to 160 mm. higher than that of the arm. This cannot be ex-