Disease relevance of Fetal Movement

• Antepartum fetal surveillance included outpatient nonstress testing, urinary estriol assays, maternal assessment of fetal activity, and clinical estimation of fetal weight [1].
• Particular attention was given to fetal movements, oligo/hydramnios, fetal cardiac rhythm, fetal heart ultrasound, and ultrasonography/echo Doppler signs of brain, facial, trunk, limb, and organ anomalies [2].
• During the second pregnancy propylthiouracil was given to the mother from 26 weeks' gestation, because of increased fetal movements and fetal tachycardia [3].
• Multiple congenital contractures (MCC) and cleft palate induced in goats by ingestion of piperidine alkaloid-containing plants: reduction in fetal movement as the probable cause [4].
• Maternal blood glucose levels of less than 60 mg/dl (3.3 mMol/L) were accompanied by a significant (p less than 0.001) increase in fetal activity (19.9 +/- 3.9 SEM episodes of fetal movement per 20-minute observation period versus 8.0 +/- 5 episodes during periods of hyperglycemia) [5].

High impact information on Fetal Movement

• Human fetal movements in utero have been analysed by conventional compound B-scan ultrasound techniques [6].
• The role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the generation of fetal movement was assessed using mice lacking GABA-synthesizing glutamate decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) [7].
• Transient loss of the diurnal rhythms of fetal movements, heart rate, and its variation after maternal betamethasone administration [8].
• The effect of methadone treatment on the quantity and quality of human fetal movement [9].
• These results suggest that morphine acts as a vasoconstrictor of the placental vasculature but do not support the use of intramuscular morphine to suppress fetal movement [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Fetal Movement

• These observations indicate that hyperglycemia does not stimulate fetal activity and that the obstetric practice of beverages with high glucose content administered during antepartum testing (in an attempt to increase fetal movement) should be reevaluated in diabetic women [5].
• Temporary arrest of fetal movement with pancuronium bromide to enable antenatal magnetic resonance imaging of holoprosencephaly [11].

Biological context of Fetal Movement

• STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-one volunteers at 30.7 +/- 3.0 weeks' gestation were objectively evaluated for fetal activity with a Doppler monitor before and during an intravenous glucose test [12].
• In 20 first trimester pregnant women, applicants for legal abortion, fetal movements were objectively recorded before and after thiopental anaesthesia, using a semi-automatic method for quantitative recording of fetal movements displayed in real-time ultrasound image of the uterus [13].
• Meperidine depressed fetal activity and increased the duration and frequency of uterine contractions [14].

Anatomical context of Fetal Movement

• Because fetal neuromuscular blockade has been used during cord blood sampling procedures to prevent fetal movement, we studied the effect of pancuronium bromide on fetal arterial concentrations of glucose, lactate, and oxygen and their umbilical uptake in 6 chronically prepared fetal sheep [15].

Associations of Fetal Movement with chemical compounds

• After the glucose infusion, fetal movements were observed for 1 hour [16].
• Prevention of fetal movement during invasive procedures with pancuronium bromide [17].
• Use of atracurium besylate to arrest fetal activity during intrauterine intravascular transfusions [18].
• No correlation was found between fetal movements and serum estriol levels in this study [19].
• Fetal movements in isoxsuprine-treated patients [20].

Gene context of Fetal Movement

• The perinatal morbidity and mortality rates were significantly lower in the group showing an increase in fetal activity following a MGL [21].
• The lowest PI of total fetal activity (TFA, i.e. FM plus FBM) was 12.1 per cent [22].
• The diagnosis of CDM was suspected by ultrasound markers of borderline ventriculomegaly, polyhydramnios, and reduced fetal movements [23].
• Using spectral analysis by the maximum entropy method (MEM), fetal movements were classified in three groups (FBM, fetal gross movements (FGM) and fetal heart movements (FHM), based on the character of their special peak frequencies [24].
• The CST, the NST, and fetal-movement monitoring are potentially useful screening tests [25].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Fetal Movement

• A standard 1-hour intravenous glucose tolerance test was then performed, and fetal activity monitoring was continued for the duration of the test [12].
• Analgesia was accomplished by local infiltration of lignocaine 1% by the surgeons and small incremental doses of intravenous medication by the anaesthetist as needed to make the mother comfortable and reduce fetal movement [26].
• MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison between the group receiving pancuronium and the control group with regard to differences in perceived fetal activity and computer derived numerical indices of fetal heart rate and fetal heart rate variation after fetal blood transfusion [27].
• BACKGROUND: Clinical observations suggest that betamethasone reduces maternal perception of fetal movements and short term variability, but that this dose not occur after treatment with dexamethasone [28].
• Published studies on the contraction stress test (CST), the nonstress test (NST), and monitoring of fetal movement were reviewed to assess the accuracy and efficacy of these techniques [25].

References