Polyhydramnios. Risk factors and outcome

OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk factors associated with polyhydramnios, and assess the maternal and perinatal outcome in these patients. METHODS: A prospective study of all deliveries complicated with polyhydramnios in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Sultanate of Oman between January 2005 and April 2006. Polyhydramnios was divided into mild and moderate to severe based on the amniotic fluid index values. The demographic data, antenatal complications, gestational age at delivery, mode of delivery, postpartum complications, and perinatal outcome were studied. RESULTS: A total of 2648 singleton deliveries occurred during the study period. Two hundred and eight (7.8%) women with polyhydramnios formed the study group, and 2440 women with normal amniotic fluid formed the control. Polyhydramnios was mild in 179 (86.1%) and moderate to severe in 29 (13.9%) cases. Sixty-eight (32.7%) of these pregnancies were complicated with diabetes as compared with 12.4% of the controls. Preterm delivery occurred in 16 (7.7%) cases. Cesarean delivery rate was 27.9% in the study group compared with 17.3% in the control. Major congenital anomalies were found in 2.8% of newborns compared with 1% among the controls. Eighteen babies were admitted to the special care baby unit. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrates a significant positive relation with maternal age, diabetes in pregnancy, and fetal macrosomia with polyhydramnios. Anemia during pregnancy, cesarean delivery rate, and congenital anomalies were significantly higher in the study group.     

The prognostic implication of the expression of EGFR,p53, cyclin D1, Bcl-2 and p16 in primary locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma cases: a tissue microarray study

Oral squamous cell carcinomas comprise a heterogeneous tumor cell population with varied molecular characteristics, which makes prognostication of these tumors a complex and challenging issue. Thus, molecular profiling of these tumors is advantageous for an accurate prognostication and treatment planning. This is a retrospective study on a cohort of primary locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinomas (n = 178) of an Indian rural population. The expression of EGFR, p53, cyclin D1, Bcl-2 and p16 in a cohort of primary locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinomas was evaluated. A potential biomarker that can predict the tumor response to treatment was identified. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor blocks of (n = 178) of histopathologically diagnosed cases of locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinomas were selected. Tissue microarray blocks were constructed with 2 cores of 2 mm diameter from each tumor block. Four-micron-thick sections were cut from these tissue microarray blocks. These tissue microarray sections were immunohistochemically stained for EGFR, p53, Bcl-2, cyclin D1 and p16. In this cohort, EGFR was the most frequently expressed 150/178 (84%) biomarker of the cases. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed a significant association (p = 0.038) between expression of p53 and a poor prognosis. A Poisson regression analysis showed that tumors that expressed p53 had a two times greater chance of recurrence (unadjusted IRR—95% CI 2.08 (1.03, 4.5), adjusted IRR—2.29 (1.08, 4.8) compared with the tumors that did not express this biomarker. Molecular profiling of oral squamous cell carcinomas will enable us to categorize our patients into more realistic risk groups. With biologically guided tumor characterization, personalized treatment protocols can be designed for individual patients, which will improve the quality of life of these patients.     

Hepatitis B‐related serological events in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients and efficacy of lamivudine prophylaxis against reactivation

Reactivation of remote hepatitis B infection (RHBI) is an important cause of morbidity in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) patients. We analyzed the prevalence of RHBI in 205 patients who underwent HCT in our centre, serological events related to hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation and role of lamivudine prophylaxis in HCT patients with RHBI. The prevalence of RHBI was 14% (28/205 patients). Of these 28 patients, 15 received lamivudine prophylaxis (14 anti‐HBcIgG positive and 1 only anti‐HBs positive) while 13 did not receive lamivudine prophylaxis (12 anti‐HBs positive and 1 anti‐HBcIgG positive). None in prophylaxis group developed HBV reactivation while 12 of 13 in no‐prophylaxis group reactivated (P < 0.001). The rate of HBV reactivation was 10% (21/205 patients), which included 9 patients with no evidence of RHBI pre‐transplant. We conclude that lamivudine prophylaxis protects against HBV reactivation in HCT patients with evidence of RHBI. Lamivudine prophylaxis should be used not only in patients with anti‐HBcIgG positivity but also in those with isolated anti‐HBs positivity pre‐transplant given the high rate of HBV reactivation in these patients. HBV serology cannot identify all cases with RHBI and therefore does not preclude HBV reactivation post‐transplant. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of blood volume characteristics in anemic patients with low versus preserved left ventricular ejection fractions

Anemia is a significant co-morbidity in patients with heart failure (HF) irrespective of the ejection fraction and is routinely quantified by hemoglobin concentration. Hemodilution as a cause of anemia has been described in systolic HF. The aim of this study was to further investigate the effects of plasma volume in patients with HF by (1) assessing the prevalence of dilutional anemia in patients with anemia and preserved ejection fractions and (2) exploring the relation between hemoglobin and red cell volume in these patients. Forty-six patients with anemia (as determined by standard hemoglobin measurement), 22 with HF and low ejection fractions (HFLEF) and 24 with HF and preserved ejection fractions (HFPEF), all underwent plasma volume measurement with iodine-131-labeled albumin. Hemoglobin values did not differ between subjects with HFLEF and those with HFPEF (10.8 +/- 1.0 vs 11.0 +/- 1.0 g/dl, p = 0.55), but a red cell deficit was found in 88% of patients with HFPEF compared with 59% of those with HFLEF (p = 0.04). This was the result of a higher prevalence of an expansion of plasma volume in patients with HFLEF (100%) compared with those with HFPEF (71%). Among all patients, no correlation was found between hemoglobin and red cell volume (r = 0.09, p = 0.54), but a correlation did exist in patients with normal blood volumes (r = 0.55, p = 0.02). In conclusion, dilutional anemia caused by an expansion in plasma volume without a red cell deficit occurs more commonly in patients with HFLEF than those with HFPEF, and hemoglobin does not correlate with red cell volume in patients with anemia and HF.     

Validation of diacyl glycerolacyltransferase I as a novel target for the treatment of obesity and dyslipidemia using a potent and selective small molecule inhibitor

A highly potent and selective DGAT-1 inhibitor was identified and used in rodent models of obesity and postprandial chylomicron excursion to validate DGAT-1 inhibition as a novel approach for the treatment of metabolic diseases. Specifically, compound 4a conferred weight loss and a reduction in liver triglycerides when dosed chronically in DIO mice and depleted serum triglycerides following a lipid challenge in a dose-dependent manner, thus, reproducing major phenotypical characteristics of DGAT-1(-/-) mice.