Percutaneous laser ablation of fetal congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation: too little, too late?

OBJECTIVE: Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation, type III (CCAM III) lesions are large, bulky tumors which can cause mediastinal shift, prevent normal pulmonary growth, and compress the esophagus, thus leading to complications of nonimmune hydrops, pulmonary hypoplasia and polyhydramnios. Because the mortality rate of untreated fetuses with CCAM and hydrops is high, early delivery or intrauterine resection of the enlarged pulmonary lobe (lobectomy) is indicated; however, open fetal resection of CCAM at less than 30 weeks is associated with perioperative mortality that approaches 40%, as well as the usual maternal and fetal morbidity of open fetal surgery. As an alternative, percutaneous laser ablation of a CCAM III lesion with hydrops was attempted. METHODS: A 30-year-old G3 P1011 with CCAM III in the left fetal hemithorax developed mediastinal shift, hydrops and polyhydramnios at 23 weeks' gestation. After pregnancy termination and open fetal resection were declined, an 18-gauge needle was placed into the fetal tumor percutaneously under real-time ultrasonographic guidance, using sterile technique with light sedation. A cleaved 400-microm Nd:YAG laser fiber was passed through the needle lumen, and using a power setting of 15 W, a total of 2,943 J of laser energy was delivered in pulses of 1.0 s at 0.2-second intervals over two sessions one week apart. RESULTS: Although tumor size decreased, the hydrops worsened and fetal death occurred. CONCLUSIONS: The fetus with CCAM complicated by hydrops is already so compromised by the advanced state of the disease that insufficient time is available for necrotic tissue reabsorption after minimally invasive therapy with laser energy. Until earlier markers for intervention are determined, percutaneous laser debulking of CCAM is unlikely to be successful.     

Home too soon? A comment on the early discharge of women from hospital after childbirth

The current trend of health care services to encourage early discharge of women from hospital within three days of childbirth has produced some concerning issues. This paper explores the factors surrounding this trend and highlights the need for a postpartum midwifery community infrastructure to support women who are discharged from hospital before breastfeeding and parent education processes are established.     

How often are endometrial polyps malignant?

OBJECTIVE: Endometrial polyps are a frequent pathology encountered during pelvic sonography and diagnostic hysteroscopies. The true incidence of malignant endometrial polyps is unknown. The estimations range from 0.5 to 4.8%. The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of malignant endometrial polyps, and to characterize the hysteroscopic image of these polyps. METHODS: The study included 300 consecutive women with endometrial polyps who underwent hysteroscopic polypectomy. Patients' characteristics, operative findings, and pathology reports were analyzed. RESULTS: Four of the 300 endometrial polyps removed by operative hysteroscopy were malignant (1.3%). Patients with malignant polyps were symptomatic peri- or postmenopausal women. All asymptomatic polyps in this series were found to be benign. We could not identify any distinct hysteroscopic feature of malignancy. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that about 1.5% of endometrial polyps may be malignant. This finding reinforces the indication for removal of symptomatic endometrial polyps, preferably by a hysteroscopic procedure. The significance of asymptomatic uterine polyps has still to be determined.     

Infants Weighing <1500 g: Better Born Too Small or Too Soon?

Objective?To evaluate the influence of intrauterine growth on intact neurological outcome at 12 to 24 months in a cohort of infants weighing <1500?g at birth.Study Design?This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Milano-Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy. Perinatal variables were correlated with occurrence of composite adverse outcome, including neonatal death or adverse neurodevelopmental outcome (ANDO), at 12 to 24 months' follow-up, in 240 consecutive very low-birth-weight (VLBW) neonates prenatally classified as growth restricted (IUGR; n?=?100) or appropriate for gestational age (n?=?140).Results?Among the 214 surviving neonates, neurological follow-up was available in 163. ANDO was present in 46 children (28%). At multivariate analysis, only gestational age at delivery was independently related to the composite outcome (p?相似文献   

Would it be too late? A retrospective case–control analysis to evaluate maternal–fetal outcomes in advanced maternal age

Purpose

To evaluate maternal–fetal outcomes in women of advanced maternal age (AMA; >35 years old) and women of physiological maternal age as controls (C; <35 years old).

Methods

Single-center, retrospective case–control analysis, from January 1 to December 31, 2013. For each group, we evaluated obstetric history, number of twin pregnancies, delivery mode, incidence of obstetric diseases and neonatal outcomes (5-min Apgar score, neonatal weight, meconium stained fluid rate, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit rate, and incidence of congenital malformations). Data are presented as n (%) and analyzed with χ ² test and Fisher exact test (when required). A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Moreover, we calculated the odds ratio (OR), with confidence interval (CI) at 95 %.

Results

We enrolled 1,347 pregnant women, 210 (15.6 %) in AMA and 1,137 (84.4 %) C. AMA patients showed a higher rate of previous (anamnestic) spontaneous abortion (SA; p = 0.001; OR = 2.10) and previous (anamnestic) voluntary pregnancy termination (p = 0.022; OR = 1.59), iterative cesarean section (p = 0.026; OR = 2.33), SA (p = 0.001; OR = 12.82), preterm delivery (p = 0.001; OR = 69.84), congenital malformations (p = 0.036; OR = 3.94). In C there was a greater number of nulliparous (p = 0.009; OR = 0.52) and vaginal deliveries (p = 0.025; OR = 0.41). There were not any statistically significant differences between the two groups for twin pregnancies (p = 0.862; OR = 0.97), first cesarean section (p = 0.145; OR = 0.95), other obstetric diseases and neonatal outcomes.

Conclusion

AMA could be considered an important risk factor only for SA and PTD and does not influence neonatal outcomes except for congenital malformations.     

Early or late amniocentesis--which method is safer?

OBJECTIVES: Whether or not to perform early or late amniocentesis remains questionable due to higher fetal loss and the rate of talipes equinovarus after early amniocentesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We have compared the course of pregnancy, delivery and the condition of the newborns in patients after early and late amniocentesis in the group of women who had undergone amniocentesis in the Department of Obstetrics of Medical University of Gdansk between the years 1996-2003. RESULTS: Early amniocentesis was performed in 302 patients (55.9%), late amniocentesis in 302 patients (44.1%). Fetal loss occurred in 8 pregnancies (2.6%) after early amniocentesis and in 2 cases (0.8%) after late amniocentesis (P = 0.10). There was no statistically significant difference between early and late amniocentesis, comparing complications following the procedure in the first 3 weeks after amniocentesis: lower abdominal pain, spotting, bleeding, leakage of amniotic fluid. Mean duration of pregnancy in patients after early amniocentesis was 38.5 +/- 3.9 and 38.4 +/- 3.3 weeks in late amniocentesis group. There was no statistically significant difference between these groups in the type of delivery and premature delivery rate. Frequency of pneumonia and the respiratory infections in newborns were comparable in two groups (6.8% vs. 4.8%). There was only one case of talipes equnovarus in a fetus after late amniocentesis and one case of congenital dysplasia of the hip in a fetus after late amniocentesis, too. There were not any such defects in a group after early amniocentesis. CONCLUSIONS: The type of amniocentesis--early or late--has not got any influence on the frequency of complicattions after amniocentesis.     

Timing of ultrasound in pregnancy—How often? At what intervals?

The second trimester fetal anatomic survey has continued to evolve over the past 27 years. This review will summarize the changes in the anatomic survey that have occurred and provide recommendations that serve to improve compliance with the components of the survey. In order to provide clarity and direction, the goals and limitations of the second trimester fetal anatomic survey should be defined. The visualization rate of specific fetal anatomic structures can be increased by specifying acceptable, alternative views. A single follow-up examination within 2–4 weeks of a fetal anatomic survey or before 22 weeks' gestation should be offered when specific components of the fetal anatomic survey cannot be visualized. The fetal anomalies that the anatomic survey seeks to identify should be defined along with an acceptable detection rate.     

Adnexal masses in pregnancy: how often are they malignant?

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to investigate the occurrence rates of benign and malignant ovarian tumors associated with pregnancy among women identified in three large California databases between 1991 and 1999. The secondary objective was to determine maternal and perinatal outcomes among these pregnancies. METHODS: This is a population-based study of 4,846,505 obstetrical patients using California hospital discharge records from 1991-1999. The California vital statistics birth/patient discharge database was linked to the California Cancer Registry (CCR). Cases of maternal ovarian cancers and low malignant potential (LMP) tumors were separated into three periods based on the timing of diagnosis and pregnancy: prenatal, at delivery, and postpartum. International Classification of Diseases, Revision 9 (ICD-9) codes were used to identify both diagnostic and procedural factors occurring during hospitalizations. The CCR database was used to identify cancer outcomes such as stage, histology, treatments, and vital status. RESULTS: 9375 women had a hospital diagnosis of an ovarian mass associated with pregnancy. CCR database identified 87 ovarian cancers and 115 LMP tumors in the same cohort. The occurrence rates were 0.93% (87/9375) ovarian cancers per total number of ovarian masses diagnosed during pregnancy, and 0.0179 ovarian cancers per 1000 deliveries. The summary stages of the ovarian cancers and LMP tumors were (respectively): localized 65.5% and 81.7%, regional 6.9% and 7.8%, remote 23.0% and 4.4%, and unknown 4.6% and 6.1%. 34 of the 87 ovarian cancers were germ cell tumors (GCT). Malignant ovarian tumors increased the likelihood of maternal outcomes such as cesarean delivery, hysterectomy, blood transfusions, and prolonged hospitalization compared to noncancer pregnant controls, but did not adversely affect neonatal outcomes. Cause-specific maternal mortality of patients with follow-up was 4.7% (9/191) at a mean of 2.43 years after diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Ovarian malignancies are rare during pregnancy. Most maternal malignant ovarian neoplasms are early stage and associated with favorable maternal and neonatal outcomes. The low maternal mortality rate is likely due to the predominance of GCTs among the ovarian cancers.     

Will stem cells in cord blood, amniotic fluid, bone marrow and peripheral blood soon be unnecessary in transplantation?

There are now various sources of stem cells. Those derived from blastocysts, named embryo stem (ES) cells, have attracted most attention and are highly multipotent. Human cord blood became widely used as a source of stem cells with differing properties to ES cells and their therapeutic application has grown steadily as they are stored in increasing numbers of stem cell banks. Other sources of human stem cells are derived from peripheral blood and amniotic fluid. They may arise from a common origin in epiblast. This review stresses the use of cord blood stem cells, but describes new approaches which may supersede the use of most stem cells. The advantages and disadvantages of these various classes are described in relation to potential methods involving gene conversion to change somatic cells to ES cells.