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Objective: To search for a possible correlation between an effective marker of smoking and uterine and placental resistance during pregnancy., Study Design: A prospective study was conducted at the Intercommunal Hospital Center of Montreuil, France: 81 healthy pregnant women underwent uterine and placental Doppler and cotidin blood assay, the best current test for smoking., Results: This study shows a significative increase of utero-placental vascular resistances according with increased cotidine levels., Conclusions: The previously observed association between smoking and perinatal events most likely involves vascular resistance of uterus and placenta.

The authors report a case history of a vesico-uterine fistula after a caesarean section which was proven by histerography. It presented as the loss of urine together with blood at the periods, which they treated at first by using analogues of LH-RH in order to dry up the loss. They, using this case, have analysed the literature on vesico-uterine fistulae after caesarean operations. This has appeared in the last 10 years. They demonstrate the physiopathology and the symptomatology of these particular fistulae. Symptomatology changes over a time interval in the same patient; and it probably depends on the capacity of the isthmus to recover its tone, as well as the fact that this fistula was localised at the isthmus which is the usual place that it occurs.

Pharyngeal epignathus teratoma is an isolated benign tumour, but the prognosis is very indeed because it can so easily obstruct the respiratory or the digestive pathways. Only rarely has this teratoma been diagnosed by ultrasound in the literature. The authors, having had a personal case, decided to discuss the problems in making the diagnosis by ultrasound and in deciding what treatment to carry out.

The authors report and comment on the results of a prospective study of the usefulness of early treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis infections in pregnant women. The diagnosis is based on a serological examination carried out in the first trimester of pregnancy. 60 women were treated by antibiotics and they were compared with 51 women who were not treated. The two groups were statistically comparable. There was a significant drop in perinatal complications due to Chlamydia trachomatis. The difference was particularly significant as far as low birth weight and the incidence of conjunctivitis in the newborn was concerned. These results show how useful it is to carry out serological screening and early treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis infections in pregnancy.