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From June 1988 to October 1989, 190 women from the department of Obstetrics-Gynecology with bacteriuria due to Gram-negative rods were studied. One hundred and three were investigated as ambulatory patients. Fifty three had received treatment with a bêta-lactam antibiotic during the past three months and 11 between three and six-months before sampling. The organisms causing bacteriuria were 163 E. coli, 12 P. mirabilis and 15 were due to other species. Thirty three E. coli and the 15 other species were resistant to amoxicillin and/or to cefalotin. When comparing previous treatment and resistance to amino-penicillins it appears that: of the women who had received a beta-lactam antibiotic within the three months before testing, 57% of the strains recovered were found resistant for amino-penicillins; of the women without treatment during the past six months, 89% of the strains recovered were sensitive and six per cent of E. coli plus five per cent of another Gram negative rod were resistant to amino-penicillins.

The in vitro antibacterial activity of cefotaxime and ceftriaxone-aminoglycoside combinations was studied against 20 clinical isolates of Listeria monocytogenes, and compared with the activity of the antibiotics alone. Minimal bacteriostatic and bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) as well as killing curves were determined using different parameters. In all cases, the MBCs of gentamicin and netilmicin were shown to be lowered by addition of CTX or CTR. Using Mueller-Hinton broth the values of MBCs obtained were achievable in the CSF. However, the clinical bearing of these results remained to be discussed.

The authors report a new case where polymyositis/dermatomyositis and pregnancy were associated. The polymyositis and dermatomyositis appeared in the last third of the pregnancy. A caesarean operation had to be performed for fetal distress after 37 weeks of amenorrhoea. An apparently dead small-for-dates baby was born. Progress, however, after resuscitation of the baby was good. At 20 months after delivery the polymyositis and dermatomyositis also were improved. Two and a half years later there was no recurrence. In the light of cases that have previously been reported in the literature, it has been established that on the one hand pregnancy may trigger off the condition and worsen the PM/DM and on the other hand the condition has a bad effect on the progress of the pregnancy. 50% of the babies are born dead or die in the week after delivery and 55% are born prematurely. We discuss the possibility that PM/DM is of viral origin. A confirmation of this is the presence of viral inclusion bodies on electron microscopy found in the muscle cells of the patients who have PM/DM. However, in the previous history of these patients an acute viral myositis in childhood is a troublesome factor. Pregnancy, because it involves alterations in the immune responses of the patients, may lead to a recrudescence of a "sleeping" virus and so be responsible for the appearance or aggravation of polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

The determination of the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio in amniotic fluid is a useful index for assessing fetal pulmonary maturity. The authors propose a simple and specific method : the amniotic lipids are extracted and thin layer chromatography is carried out in an acetic acid containing medium. The L/S ratio was studied and discussed in 138 normal and pathological cases.