scholarly journals Revisiting the Role of First Trimester Homocysteine as an Index of Maternal and Fetal Outcome

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Mascarenhas ◽  
Syed Habeebullah ◽  
M. G. Sridhar

Aim.To revisit the role of first trimester homocysteine levels with the maternal and fetal outcome.Methods.This was a cohort study comprising 100 antenatal women between 8 and 12 weeks of gestation. Serum homocysteine levels were checked after overnight fasting.Results.There were significantly elevated homocysteine levels among women with prior history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and prior second or third trimester pregnancy losses. There was no significant difference in homocysteine levels among women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm deliveries, or fetal malformations. Homocysteine levels were significantly elevated in those who developed hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, oligohydramnios, and meconium stained amniotic fluid, had a pregnancy loss, or delivered a low birth weight baby. There was no significant difference in homocysteine levels for those who developed gestational diabetes mellitus.Conclusions.Increased first trimester serum homocysteine is associated with history of pregnancy losses, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and preterm birth. This is also associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, pregnancy loss, oligohydramnios, meconium stained amniotic fluid, and low birth weight in the current pregnancy. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.govCTRI/2013/02/003441.

Author(s):  
Alka Goel ◽  
Pooja Gupta ◽  
Akansha Singh ◽  
Khushboo Singh

Background: Normally, endometrium comprises of non-absorptive epithelium and does not take up stain. Conventional staining with methylene blue is explained on the basis of existence of apoptotic cells in endometrium.Methods: Of 50 patients of unexplained infertility, AUB, recurrent pregnancy loss were randomly selected and included in the study. Those with abnormal ultrasound and history of tuberculosis were excluded. Conventional hysteroscopy was performed using normal saline as distending medium and in those with grossly normal endometrium were subjected to staining with 5% methylene blue instilled trans cervically. After 5 min, irrespective of the size and pattern, focal dark blue stained areas were considered abnormal and randomly biopsied. Incidence of endometritis in both groups was compared after histopathological examination.Results: Of total 50 patients, histopathological report of only one patient with dark blue staining had evidence of endometritis. Rest had no evidence, of which 73.5% had light blue or unstained areas and 26.5% showed dark blue staining. No statistically significant difference was found between histopathological reports and light or dark blue staining (p=0.28). When percentage stained area was considered more than 50% only to be positive, sensitivity was 100%, specificity 94%, PPV 25% and NPV 100%. False positives were 75% and no false negatives were observed. Although p values improved but still statistically insignificant.Conclusions: Present study failed to establish any significant correlation between staining pattern and detection rate of endometritis. With no Indian studies published on chromohysteroscopy so far, role of methylene blue in detection of subtle endometrial changes in modern gynaecology in Indian subpopulation is yet to be established.


2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 7-10
Author(s):  
Eti Saha ◽  
Fouzia Begum ◽  
Zannatul Ferdous Jesmin

Early pregnancy loss is a frustrating experience for both the patient and the physician. Approximately 5% of couples trying to conceive have 2 consecutive miscarriages and approximately 1% couples have 3 or more consecutive losses. Objective of this study is to determine whether therapy with dydrogesterone or Human chorionic Gonadotrophin hormone (HCG) in history of repeated pregnancy loss during the first trimester of pregnancy will improve pregnancy outcome. This is a prospective open comparative study.Women having early pregnancy presenting to a private clinic with history of early pregnancy loss, having no medical disorder were included in this study. Eligible subjects were randomised to receive either dydrogesterone 20mg daily or injection Human Chorionic Gonadotrophins (HCG) 5000 iu intramuscularly at 72 hours interval up to fourteen weeks of pregnancy or no additional treatment. Follow up of those patients were done with transabdominal ultrasonography. Hundred women were recruited. There was no statistically significant difference between the three groups with regard to pretreatment status. The continuing pregnancy success rate was higher in women treated with dydrogesterone (79.17%) and highest with Injection Human Chorionic, Gonadotrophin (86.36%) compared with women received no treatment (70%), (p=0.358). Hormonal support with either dydrogesterone or Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin may increase the chances of a successful pregnancy in women with a history of spontaneous abortion.Bang Med J (Khulna) 2015; 48 : 7-10


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J Katzman ◽  
Joseph Blitman ◽  
Leon A Metlay

Background Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are a common cause for preterm delivery. Prior studies showed that chronic villitis (CV) is associated with intrauterine growth restriction, preeclampsia, intrauterine fetal death, and morbidly adherent placenta (MAP). The authors hypothesize that disorders of the placental basal plate, especially basal chronic villitis (BCV), are associated with HDP. Methods The laboratory information system was queried over 12 years to identify placentas with or without the clinical history of HDP and with or without multifocal/focal CV or BCV. As a control for tissue sampling, a similar search was performed over 5 years for placentas evaluated for MAP. Results Of 19,683 placentas identified, 14.8% had CV which was in 18.5% and 14.2% of placentas associated with or without HDP, respectively, a significant difference ( P < .0001). BCV was present in 6.0% and 3.9% of placentas with or without HDP, respectively, also a significant difference ( P < .0001). BCV was more likely than multifocal/focal CV to occur in HDP (32.4% vs 27.4%) when all cases of CV were analyzed ( P = .025). Of 221 placentas with MAP, 64% had multifocal/focal CV and 36% had BCV. Conclusions BCV and CV are more common in placentas with HDP than in normotensive pregnancies. They are also seen in MAP, as supported by another recent study.


Author(s):  
Kanika Chopra ◽  
Suchitra . ◽  
Prbha Lal

Mifepristone is a steroid, which is a progesterone antagonist and is widely used for termination of pregnancies in all the trimester. It increases the sensitivity of the uterus to prostaglandins and ripens the cervix. Its role in inducing women with intra uterine demise is on the rise with varying dose regimen either alone or in combination with misoprostol. Among the various causes of intrauterine demise, one of the most important is hypertensive disorders of pregnancy complicating around 10% of pregnancies worldwide, Serum uric acid, a marker of oxidative stress is an important parameter in defining poor fetal outcome in women with pre-eclampsia. Induction of labour in women diagnosed with intrauterine demise is again a challenge in such women and mifepristone helps to a larger extent. In present case series, authors present six women presenting with pre-eclampsia with intrauterine demise, their clinical and biochemistry profile and responding to single dose of mifepristone of 200 mg with mean induction to delivery interval being 40 hours. Henceforth, authors conclude that even single dose of mifepristone can work wonders taking into consideration the cost of the drug and thus can be definitely employed in daily clinical practice.


BMJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. j3078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Behrens ◽  
Saima Basit ◽  
Mads Melbye ◽  
Jacob A Lykke ◽  
Jan Wohlfahrt ◽  
...  

Neurology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011990
Author(s):  
Liisa Karjalainen ◽  
Minna Tikkanen ◽  
Kirsi Rantanen ◽  
Karoliina Aarnio ◽  
Aino Korhonen ◽  
...  

Objective:To investigate whether previously reported increasing incidence of pregnancy-associated stroke (PAS) is observed in chart-validated register data in Finland. In an exploratory analysis, we studied risk factors for PAS.Methods:We performed a retrospective population-based cohort study and nested case-control study in Finland 1987-2016. The Medical Birth Register (MBR) was linked with the Hospital Discharge Register to identify women with incident stroke (ischemic stroke, cerebral venous thrombosis, intracerebral or subarachnoid hemorrhage) during pregnancy or puerperium. Cases were verified from patient records. Incidence of PAS over the study period, in 5-year age groups and pregnancy/postpartum period were calculated per number of deliveries. Three matched controls were selected for each case from MBR to compare risk factors.Results:After chart review, 29.6% (257/868) of cases were PAS. The incidence of PAS was 14.5 (95%CI: 12.8-16.3) per 100,000 deliveries. Incidence increased from 11.1 to 25.2 per 100,000 deliveries from 1987-1991 to 2012-2016 (p<0.0001). Incidence increased by age from 9.8 to 29.9 per 100,000 deliveries from ages 20-24 to ages >40 (p<0.0001). During early postpartum period, incidence was 5-fold greater compared to the first trimester. Maternal mortality was 6.6%. In the multivariable adjusted model, smoking beyond 12 gestational weeks (odds ratio [OR] 1.8, 95%CI: 1.2-2.7), migraine (OR 16.3, 95%CI: 5.3-49.8), and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (OR 4.0, 95%CI: 2.5-6.3) were the most important risk factors for PAS.Conclusion:PAS incidence is increasing stressing the importance of careful pregnancy surveillance and risk factor management, particularly in older expectant mothers and extending to puerperium.Classification of Evidence:This study provides Class III evidence that smoking beyond 12 gestational weeks, migraine and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of PAS.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiyu Zeng ◽  
Ling Yu ◽  
Yiling Ding ◽  
Mengyuan Yang

Abstract Background This study aims to explore whether plasma endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF) in the first trimester can be used as a predictor of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), and compare it with placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) to evaluate its prediction of HDP value. Methods This is a prospective cohort study that records the medical history of the pregnant women included in the study at 11–13 weeks’ gestation, and analyzes serum biochemical markers including EG-VEGF, PIGF, sFlt-1 and sFlt-1/PIGF. The predictive values of these tests were determined. We used the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to find the optimal cut-off value for each biomarker and compare the operating characteristics (sensitivity, specificity). Logistic regression analysis was used to create a prediction model for HDP based on maternal characteristics and maternal biochemistry. Results Data were obtained from 205 pregnant women. 17 cases were diagnosed with HDP, the incidence rate was 8.2% (17/205). Women who developed HDP had a significantly higher body mass index (BMI) and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Serum EG-VEGF levels in the first trimester are significantly higher in pregnant women with HDP. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value(NPV) of serum EG-VEGF levels more than 227.83 pg/ml for predicting HDP were 43%, 93%, 86% and 62%, respectively. We established a prediction model in the first trimester include maternal BMI, MAP, and EG-VEGF, with an AUC of 0.8861 (95%CI: 0.7905–0.9818), which is better than using EG-VEGF alone (AUC: 0.66). Conclusion This study demonstrated that serum EG-VEGF is a promising biomarker for predicting HDP in the first trimester. It has better predictive performance compared with the currently used biomarkers like PIGF and sFlt-1. Combining maternal clinical characteristics and biochemical tests at 11–13 weeks can effectively identify women at high risk of HDP.


Heart ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 330-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veerle Dam ◽  
N Charlotte Onland-Moret ◽  
W M Monique Verschuren ◽  
Jolanda M A Boer ◽  
Laura Benschop ◽  
...  

ObjectivesCompare the predictive performance of Framingham Risk Score (FRS), Pooled Cohort Equations (PCEs) and Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) model between women with and without a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (hHDP) and determine the effects of recalibration and refitting on predictive performance.MethodsWe included 29 751 women, 6302 with hHDP and 17 369 without. We assessed whether models accurately predicted observed 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk (calibration) and whether they accurately distinguished between women developing CVD during follow-up and not (discrimination), separately for women with and without hHDP. We also recalibrated (updating intercept and slope) and refitted (recalculating coefficients) the models.ResultsOriginal FRS and PCEs overpredicted 10-year CVD risks, with expected:observed (E:O) ratios ranging from 1.51 (for FRS in women with hHDP) to 2.29 (for PCEs in women without hHDP), while E:O ratios were close to 1 for SCORE. Overprediction attenuated slightly after recalibration for FRS and PCEs in both hHDP groups. Discrimination was reasonable for all models, with C-statistics ranging from 0.70-0.81 (women with hHDP) and 0.72–0.74 (women without hHDP). C-statistics improved slightly after refitting 0.71–0.83 (with hHDP) and 0.73–0.80 (without hHDP). The E:O ratio of the original PCE model was statistically significantly better in women with hHDP compared with women without hHDP.ConclusionsSCORE performed best in terms of both calibration and discrimination, while FRS and PCEs overpredicted risk in women with and without hHDP, but improved after recalibrating and refitting the models. No separate model for women with hHDP seems necessary, despite their higher baseline risk.


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