الفهرس 
Preterm Labor
Assessment of Amniotic FluidOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Preterm birth was a major problem in modern obstetrics and is significantly associated with infant mortality, long-term morbidity and neurodevelopmental impairment. Preterm infants were at risk for specific diseases such as respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular hemorrhage, broncho-pulmonary dysplasia, patent ductus arteriosus, necrotizing enterocolitis, sepsis, apnea and retinopathy. Worldwide, an estimated 15 million infants are born premature, representing over one in ten live births. Of the estimated 6.3 million children under 5years, 15.4% (around 1 million) were due to complications of preterm birth. Owing to significant efforts of the health system in Egypt, infant mortality has declined from 40/1000 live births in the period from 1994 to 1998 to 22/1000 live births in 2014. The estimated number of premature births in Egypt was 123 131 births in 2008. Antenatal corticosterioid, as preventive approach was administered to mothers at risk of imminent preterm birth in order to stimulate fetal lung maturation via stimulation of type 2pneumocytes. Roberts and Dalziel in 2006 has established the safety and efficacy of antenatal corticoster oid for women at risk of imminent preterm births finding a roughly one-third reduction in risk of neonatal death. Antenatal administration of corticosteroids, given to accelerate the development of fetal maturity and improve perinatal outcome in pregnancies at risk of preterm delivery, has been shown to upregulate placental expression and secretion of Corticotrophin Releasing Hormone (CRH) which is a potent vasodilator of the fetal placental circulation, offering the possibility that corticosteroid treatment may alter placental blood flow. No serious side effects have been reported after administration of corticosteroids during pregnancy. However, a transient reduction of fetal heart rate variation and fetal body and breathing movements following maternal betamethasone administration was reported. Doppler ultrasound has been used to measure the blood flow velocity in vessels during the cardiac cycle in fetoplacental, uteroplacental circulation and has been focused on arteries for the evaluation of downstream distribution of cardiac output. Doppler flow velocimetry of the umbilical, fetal middle cerebral arteries serve as another modality for the assessment of fetal status. This technique proved to be of clinical value in the differential diagnosis between druginduced changes in modified fetal biophysical behavior and those due to fetal compromise. This study aimed to investigate the effects of dexamethasone administration on modified fetal biophysical profile and Doppler study of middle cerebral and umbilical arteries in pregnancies at risk for preterm birth. This prospective observational study was conducted on 50 singleton pregnant women with gestational age from 28 to 34 weeks (gestational age evaluation will be based on menstrual history and early ultrasonographic assessment before 15 weeks of gestation).