The authors are involved in a study in the field of nuclear medicine aimed at further clarifying the connection between premature delivery and
placental insufficiency. They are particularly concerned with uteroplacental perfusion at the time when a trend is emerging toward
premature birth, and with ways of treating this by exclusive
therapy using
betamimetics and/or additional maternal
oxygen inhalation/additional maternal transcutaneous dorsal nerve stimulation (
TNS). The significantly longer half-life periods of activity increase found at the time of hospitalization similar to pregnancies with intra-uterine fetal retardation, as compared with a normal control group, are interpreted as expressing a hemodynamic
placental insufficiency and a risk of premature delivery. In contrast to exclusive betamimetic
therapy, additional O2 inhalation/additional
TNS significantly shorten the half-life period both in short-time and long-time tests. The better
therapeutic effect on uteroplacental perfusion in cases of imminent premature delivery which is thus demonstrated can be seen also in an improved respiratory condition of the fetus as shown in a cardiotocogram. From a clinical point of view, the authors call attention to the clearly
prolonged pregnancy periods regardless of the duration of gestation, at the time when a trend is emerging toward
premature birth, as compared with exclusive betamimetic
therapy, the duration of
tocolysis/amount of betamimetic applied being the same.