Perinatal risk factors for infantile autism

BACKGROUND: Etiologic hypotheses in infantile autism suggest a strong genetic component, as well as possible environmental risks linked to early fetal development. We evaluated the association of maternal, pregnancy, delivery, and infant characteristics and risk of infantile autism. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study nested within a population-based cohort (all Swedish children born in 1974-1993). We used prospectively recorded data from the Swedish Birth Register, which were individually linked to the Swedish Inpatient Register. Cases were 408 children (321 boys and 87 girls) discharged with a main diagnosis of infantile autism from any hospital in Sweden before 10 years of age in the period 1987-1994, plus 2,040 matched controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: The risk of autism was associated with daily smoking in early pregnancy (OR = 1.4; CI = 1.1-1.8), maternal birth outside Europe and North America (OR = 3.0; CI = 1.7-5.2), cesarean delivery (OR = 1.6; CI = 1.1-2.3), being small for gestational age (SGA; OR = 2.1; CI = 1.1-3.9), a 5-minute Apgar score below 7 (OR = 3.2, CI = 1.2-8.2), and congenital malformations (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.1-3.1). No association was found between autism and head circumference, maternal diabetes, being a twin, or season of birth. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that intrauterine and neonatal factors related to deviant intrauterine growth or fetal distress are important in the pathogenesis of autism.     

早发型新生儿败血症围生期危险因素及病原菌分布

目的 分析早发型新生儿败血症围生期危险因素及病原菌分布.方法 将2016—2019年某院新生儿重症监护病房(NICU)收治的168例早发型新生儿败血症新生儿作为感染组,并随机选取NICU收治的168例无败血症新生儿作为对照组,收集两组新生儿母亲一般情况、围生期感染情况,以及新生儿的一般情况、侵入性操作及并发症等资料,进...     

Perinatal risk factors for Wilms tumor in a Swedish national cohort

Perinatal risk factors including high birth weight have been associated with Wilms tumor in case–control studies. However, these findings have seldom been examined in large cohort studies, and the specific contributions of gestational age at birth and fetal growth remain unknown. We conducted the largest population-based cohort study to date consisting of 3,571,574 persons born in Sweden in 1973–2008, followed up for Wilms tumor incidence through 2009 to examine perinatal risk factors. There were 443 Wilms tumor cases identified in 66.3 million person-years of follow-up. After adjusting for gestational age and other perinatal factors, high fetal growth was associated with increased risk of Wilms tumor among girls (hazard ratio per 1 standard deviation (SD), 1.36; 95 % CI 1.20–1.54; P < 0.001), but not boys (1.10; 95 % CI 0.97–1.25; P = 0.14) (P _interaction = 0.02). Among girls, high fetal growth was associated with disease onset before age 5 years (odds ratio per 1 SD, 1.47; 95 % CI 1.28–1.69; P < 0.001), but not beyond (1.00; 95 % CI 0.76–1.31; P = 0.99). No clear associations were found for gestational age at birth or other perinatal factors. In this large cohort study, high fetal growth was associated with Wilms tumor before age 5 years among girls. These findings suggest that early-life growth factor pathways for Wilms tumor may be more common among girls than boys. Further elucidation of these mechanisms may reveal better targets for prevention or treatment of specific subtypes of Wilms tumor.     

Perinatal risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease: a case-control study

To examine perinatal risk factors for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, the authors analyzed birth records for 257 known case participants delivered from 1924 through 1957 at the University Hospital in Uppsala County, Sweden, and compared them with records for 514 controls delivered at the hospital. The two groups were matched by date of birth, sex, and either maternal age or parity. Eleven study variables were abstracted from standard forms that recorded health events during the pregnancy and the delivery hospitalization. Participants were more likely than controls to have a recorded health event (odds ratio (OR) = 4.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.0-6.4). In a multivariate model, this increased risk was evident for infectious (OR = 3.8; 95% CI 2.6-5.8) and noninfectious (OR = 3.5; 95% CI 2.0-6.3) events. Perinatal health events may have contributed to 40% of the inflammatory bowel disease cases in our study. Infants from families with low socioeconomic status had greater risk of inflammatory bowel disease than did infants from families with high socioeconomic status (OR = 3.0, 95% CI 1.5-6.1). Perinatal health events and low socioeconomic status independently increased the risk of inflammatory bowel disease.     

Perinatal factors and the risk of asthma in childhood--a population-based register study in Finland

The aim of the study was to assess whether perinatal factors are associated with the risk of asthma in childhood in a register-based, nested case-control study in Finland. All children born between January 1, 1996, and April 30, 2004, who were entitled to a special reimbursement for antiasthmatic drugs (i.e., had diagnosed asthma by 2006 and had purchased inhaled corticosteroids or montelukast at least once), were identified (n = 21,038). For each case, one matched control child was selected. The associations between perinatal factors, derived from the Finnish Medical Birth Register, and the risk of asthma were analyzed by conditional logistic regression. In the final multivariate model, maternal asthma, young age, smoking, previous miscarriages, and a high number of previous deliveries, as well as cesarean section, low gestational age, and low ponderal index, were associated with an increased risk of asthma in children diagnosed before the age of 3 years. Among children diagnosed at the age of 3 years or later, maternal asthma, low gestational age, and low ponderal index were associated with an increased risk, and a high number of previous deliveries was associated with a decreased risk of asthma. In conclusion, perinatal factors play a role in the development of asthma in childhood, but the etiology may differ in early and late-onset asthma.     

围产期高危因素与2～3岁儿童行为发育关系的探讨

采用“2～3岁儿童行为检查表”对西安市236名入托儿童的行为发育状况进行了研究,旨在探讨临床上较为常见的几种围产期高危因素对学龄前儿童行为发育的影响。结果发现:高危组儿童的单项行为症状发生率、行为因子负荷分、行为异常的发生率及行为异常的严重程度均显著高于正常对照组;与行为问题显著相关的主要危险因素为:低出生体重、早产、过期产、分娩异常及新生儿期疾病。提示高危儿的心理卫生保健更为迫切,而降低早产、低出生体重、过期产和异常分娩以及新生儿期疾病的发生率,则是减少高危儿心理行为问题的关键。     

Perinatal mental health in lesbian mothers: a review of potential risk and protective factors

Postpartum depression and other perinatal mental illnesses are common complications of childbirth. The majority of research on these conditions has been conducted in heterosexual women; however, increasing numbers of women are choosing to parent in the context of lesbian relationships. Although many of the fundamental aspects of the transition to parenthood are shared between lesbian and heterosexual mothers, lesbian mothers may differ from heterosexual parents on a number of variables that have been previously associated with perinatal mental health. Lesbian mothers may be more likely than their heterosexual peers to lack social support, particularly from their families of origin, and may be exposed to additional stress due to homophobic discrimination. However, the likelihood that lesbian pregnancies will be planned, together with the relatively equal division of child-care labour observed in lesbian couples, may offer protection from perinatal depression. The study of perinatal mental health in lesbian mothers is warranted, both to ensure that the mental health needs of this largely invisible population are being met, and to further illuminate the role of psychosocial stress in perinatal mental health in all women.     

孤独症、精神发育迟滞的围生期危险因素及家族史的病例对照研究

【目的】 研究孤独症和精神发育迟滞的围生期危险因素及相关家族史之间的差异。 【方法】 分析在复旦大学附属儿科医院诊治的100例孤独症儿童、60例精神发育迟滞儿童以及80例发育正常儿童的围生期及家族史资料,应用方差分析、秩和检验以及χ²检验分析三组儿童围生期危险因素及家族史之间的差异。 【结果】 孤独症及精神发育迟滞儿童有家族史的比例显著高于正常儿童(35.0% vs 6.3%,P＜0.001;31.7% vs 6.3%,P=0.005),而孤独症组和精神发育迟滞组的家族史差异无统计学意义(P=0.362)。三组儿童有孕期疾病史的比例存在差异(28.00% vs 45.00% vs 26.25%,χ²=6.635,P=0.036),但两两比较后发现各组之间差异均不显著。孤独症组母亲的孕龄显著高于正常儿童组(P＜0.001),与精神发育迟滞组差异不显著,而精神发育迟滞组与正常儿童组之间的差异也不显著。三组儿童围生期缺氧或窒息史的比例不存在显著差异(8.00% vs 10.00% vs 2.50%,χ²=3.589,P=0.166)。在胎产次、孕周、生产方式、产重上,三组儿童之间差异也无统计学意义。 【结论】 1)孤独症与精神发育迟滞患儿家族史的阳性率不相上下,但均显著高于正常儿童;2)晚孕可能是孤独症的一个危险因素。     

Perinatal and maternal risk factors for autism spectrum disorders in New South Wales, Australia

Background This study was commenced in 1999 with the aim of examining risk factors for autism using established population‐based data for comparison. Methods Cases were ascertained using active surveillance and compared with birth data. Results Four risk factors were found to be significantly associated with autism using binary logistic regression analysis; being male [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 4.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.2–7.0], being born prematurely (adjusted OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.5–3.5), having maternal age ≥35 years (adjusted OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2–2.4) and having a mother born outside Australia (adjusted OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0–1.9). For analysis completed for pregnancies, rather than live births, multiple birth was also a significant risk factor for one or more children of the pregnancy to be affected by autism (adjusted OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.1–5.5). There was a statistically significant trend towards increasing risk with increasing risk factor ‘dose’ for gestational age (P = 0.019), multiple birth (P = 0.016) and maternal age (P < 0.001). For mother's country of birth the group with the highest risk were children of mother's born in south‐east or north‐east Asia. There was a non‐significant trend towards a higher proportion of children with developmental disability having risk factors. Conclusion Replication of risk factors from previous studies and a significant risk factor ‘dose’ effect add to growing evidence that maternal and perinatal factors are low magnitude risk factors for autism. The association between developmental disability and autism risk factors warrants further examination.     

Perinatal characteristics and risk of polio among Swedish twins

Perng W, Cnattingius S, Iliadou A, Villamor E. Perinatal characteristics and risk of polio among Swedish twins. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2012; 26: 218–225. Prenatal exposure to adverse environmental conditions is related to increased adult mortality in regions where infections are highly prevalent, yet there is little evidence of the impact of perinatal conditions on the risk of severe infections throughout life. Using prospectively collected data from 21 604 like‐sexed Swedish twins of known zygosity born in 1926–1958, we examined the risk of polio in relation to perinatal characteristics using cohort and nested co‐twin case–control analyses. Polio incidence was determined through an interview in 1998, and linkage with the Swedish national inpatient and death registries. There were 133 cases of polio. In the cohort analysis, birth length, birthweight and head circumference were positively associated with polio risk. After adjustment for sex, birth year, gestational age at birth and within‐twin pair correlations, twins of shortest length (<44 cm) had a 67% ([95% CI: 6%, 88%]; P = 0.04) lower risk of polio compared with the reference group (47–49 cm). After additional adjustment for birth length, every 100‐g increase in birthweight was related to a 34% increased risk of polio ([95% CI: ?1%, 82%]; P = 0.06), and every 10‐mm increase in head circumference was related to a 17% greater risk of polio ([95% CI: 5%, 31%]; P = 0.004). In co‐twin control analyses among 226 disease‐discordant twins, birth length, birthweight and head circumference were 0.3 cm (P = 0.19), 84 g (P = 0.07) and 3 mm (P = 0.08) higher in cases than controls, respectively. Similar associations were observed among monozygotic (n = 84) and dizygotic (n = 142) twins. These findings suggest that early intrauterine growth restriction may be inversely related to the incidence of polio.     

Perinatal and early adulthood factors associated with adiposity

We used body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) as fat indicators to assess whether perinatal and early adulthood factors are associated with adiposity in early adulthood. We hypothesized that risk factors differ between men and women and are also different when WC is used for measuring adiposity as opposed to BMI. We conducted a longitudinal study based on a sample of 2,063 adults from the 1978/1979 Ribeir?o Preto birth cohort. Adjustment was performed using four sequential multiple linear regression models stratified by sex. Both perinatal and early adulthood variables influenced adulthood BMI and WC. The associations differed between men and women and depending on the measure of abdominal adiposity (BMI or WC). Living with a partner, for both men and women, and high fat and alcohol intake in men were factors that were consistently associated with higher adulthood BMI and WC levels. The differences observed between sexes may point to different lifestyles of men and women, suggesting that prevention policies should consider gender specific strategies.     

Maternal vitamin use and reduced risk of neuroblastoma

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested that maternal vitamin use during pregnancy may reduce the incidence of childhood brain tumors. Using data from a large North American study, we conducted an analysis to investigate maternal vitamin use and neuroblastoma in offspring. METHODS: Cases were children diagnosed with neuroblastoma over the period 1 May 1992 to 30 April 1994 at Children's Cancer Group and Pediatric Oncology Group institutions throughout the United States and Canada. One matched control was selected for each case using random-digit dialing. We obtained vitamin use information during specific periods before and during pregnancy from 538 case and 504 control mothers through telephone interviews. RESULTS: Daily vitamin and mineral use in the month before pregnancy and in each trimester was associated with a 30-40% reduction in risk of neuroblastoma. For example, daily use in the second trimester had an odds ratio of 0.6 (95% confidence interval = 0.4-0.9). We were unable to isolate the effects of specific vitamins or minerals. Neither age at diagnosis nor oncogene amplification status materially altered the results. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that vitamin use during pregnancy might reduce incidence of neuroblastoma, consistent with findings for other childhood cancers.     

Perinatal weight and risk of prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms

PurposePrepregnancy obesity and weight changes accompanying pregnancy (gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention) may be associated with risk of maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy and in the postpartum. The few studies that have examined these relationships report conflicting findings.MethodsWe studied pregnant (n = 2112) and postpartum (n = 1686) women enrolled in Project Viva. We used self-reported prepregnancy and postpartum weight and measured prenatal weight to calculate prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), gestational weight gain (GWG), and postpartum weight retention at 6 months after birth. We assessed elevated depressive symptoms (EDS) with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (≥13 on 0–30 scale) at midpregnancy and 6 months postpartum. We used logistic regression to estimate the odds of prenatal and postpartum EDS in relation to prepregnancy BMI, GWG, and postpartum weight retention.ResultsA total of 214 (10%) participants experienced prenatal EDS and 151 (9%) postpartum EDS. Neither prepregnancy BMI nor GWG was associated with prenatal EDS. Prepregnancy obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg per m²) was associated with higher odds of postpartum EDS (odds ratio = 1.69, 95% confidence interval, 1.01–2.83) compared to normal prepregnancy weight in a model adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, nativity, education, marital status, household income, parity, pregnancy intention, and smoking.ConclusionsPrepregnancy obesity is associated with elevated depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. Given the current obesity epidemic in the US and the consequences of perinatal depression, additional prevention and screening efforts in this population may be warranted.     

新生儿锁骨骨折围产相关因素初探

新生儿锁骨骨折是由于接产时暴力因素所致.本文着重讨论与新生儿锁骨骨折有关的围产因素. 1 对象与方法 1.1 对象 1996年7月～1998年5月间在我院新生儿科住院的锁骨骨折病人,共30例.其中男性23例(76.7%);女性7例(23.3%).该组患儿中本院产科出生共有12人,占同期产科出生婴儿数的0.57%.胎龄最大42+3周,最小36+3周,平均39+5周.体重(2.6～4.5) kg,平均体重(3.9±0.6) kg,血钙1.5～2.6 mmol·L-1,平均2.36±0.86 mmol·L-1.     

Birth characteristics and risk of neuroblastoma in young children

The peak incidence of neuroblastoma during infancy suggests that certain prenatal or perinatal factors may be etiologically important. In this population-based study, California birth certificates were identified for 508 (86%) neuroblastoma cases diagnosed at less than 5 years of age between 1988 and 1997. For each case, two controls, matched on date of birth and gender, were randomly selected from the statewide birth registry. Results of multivariate analyses showed a reduced risk for children of Hispanic (odds ratio (OR) = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.43, 0.76) and "other" (OR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.85) race/ethnicity, compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Postterm/high birth weight delivery was associated with an increased risk of neuroblastoma compared with term/normal birth weight delivery among infants (OR = 6.99, 95% CI: 1.07, 45.55), while preterm birth appeared suggestive of a reduced risk among children 1-4 years of age. For children in this age group, the risk of neuroblastoma was elevated for cesarean delivery compared with vaginal delivery (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.21, 2.47), and, for infants, the risk was reduced if the mother had had multiple previous pregnancies (OR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.69). These data suggest that etiologic factors associated with the prenatal and perinatal periods may be specific to age at neuroblastoma diagnosis.     

Perinatal events and the risk of intraparenchymal echodensity in very-low-birthweight neonates

A case-control study was performed to identify perinatal events associated with intraparenchymal echodensity on cranial ultrasonography – an important antecedent of cerebral palsy in very-low-birthweight infants. Forty-eight infants with birthweight < 1500 g and intraparenchymal echodensity on cranial ultrasound examination and 90 controls with normal cranial ultrasounds were identified within a cohort of 1791 consecutive very-low-birthweight infants born at a regional obstetric referral centre. Data about potential risk factors were obtained from medical records of cases and controls. Among prenatal factors, chorioamnionitis (odds ratio[OR]: 3.2; 95% confidence interval: 1.3, 8.1) and placental abruption (OR 2.6 [1.0, 6.6]) were associated most strongly with an increased risk of intraparenchymal echodensity and pre-eclampsia (OR 0.3 [0.1, 0.8]) was associated most strongly with a decreased risk. When controlling for gestational age, multiple gestation was also associated with an increased risk (OR 2.7 [1.0, 7.5]). Neonatal factors independently associated with an increased risk included low systolic blood pressure (< 33 mmHg in the first 12 h of life; odds ratio 8.0 [2.0, 31.3]), receipt of a fluid bolus in the first 12 h of life (OR 19.7 [4.6, 84.3]), need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the first 72 h (OR 6.9 [1.5, 31.3]) and pneumothorax in the first 72 h of life (OR 27.0 [4.3, 167.2]). When analyses were restricted to infants who were not given a fluid bolus, the associations with chorioamnionitis and placental abruption were attenuated. When excluding infants who had a pneumothorax, the associations with placental abruption and multiple gestation were attenuated. Restriction of infants with systolic blood pressure < 33 mmHg resulted in attenuation of associations with pre-eclampsia and multiple gestation. These analyses suggest the possibility that potentially modifiable postnatal events may be involved as intervening factors linking chorioamnionitis, placental abruption and multiple gestation with subsequent intraparenchymal echodensity.