Prenatal

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between varying degrees of abnormality in the uterine artery Doppler pulsatility index (UtA-PI) and adverse perinatal outcomes. METHODS: Prospective study of 33,364 women who gave birth to singleton, non-anomalous babies in Oxford, following universal measurement of UtA-PI in mid-pregnancy. Relative risk ratios for the primary outcomes of extended perinatal mortality and live birth with severe small-for-gestational-age (SGA) were calculated by multinomial logistic regression, for early preterm birth (<34+0 ) and late preterm/term birth (≥34+0 )...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: Decisional conflict and regret about prenatal genetic screening and diagnostic tests may have important consequences in the current pregnancy and for future reproductive decisions. Identifying mechanisms that reduce conflict associated with the decision to use or decline these options is necessary for optimal patient counseling. METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a shared decision-making tool (NEST) at the beginning of prenatal care...

This pilot and acceptability study sought to report provider acceptability and developmental concerns expressed by caregivers of children with prenatal opioid exposure using the Shared Decision-Making Tool (SDMT), an instrument created by study authors. Data were collected from five health care and early intervention providers and 83 caregivers from a medical clinic and early intervention service center. Descriptive statistics were used to identify frequency, mean level, and prioritization of developmental concerns using the SDMT, and to summarize provider acceptability about integrating the SDMT into their workflow...

BACKGROUND: Several risk factors contribute to the development of dental caries in children, including sociodemographic, dietary, oral hygiene-related and other miscellaneous factors. Maternal smoking was highly associated with dental caries when compared to smoking by fathers or other household members. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of dental caries and their association with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among 5- to 10-year-old students attending private and government schools...

BACKGROUND: The birthrate of Black preterm (BPT) infants is 65% higher than White preterm (WPT) infants with a BPT mortality that is 2.3 times higher. The incidence of culture-positive late-onset sepsis is as high as 41% in very-preterm infants. The main purpose of this study was to examine thermal gradients and the heart rate in relation to the onset of infection. This report presents disparities in very-preterm infection incidence, bacteria, and mortality data amongst BPT and WPT infants...

Dental development defects (DDDs) are quantitative and/or qualitative alterations produced during odontogenesis that affect both primary and permanent dentition. The etiology remains unknown, being associated with prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors. The aims were to identify the possible etiological factors, as well as the prevalence of DDDs in the primary and permanent dentition in a pediatric population. Two hundred twenty-one children between 2 and 15 years of age, patients of the master's degree in Pediatric Dentistry of the Complutense University of Madrid, were reviewed...

Although most congenital heart defects (CHDs) are asymptomatic at birth, certain CHD lesions are at significant risk of severe hemodynamic instability and death if emergent cardiac interventions are not performed in a timely fashion. Therefore, accurate identification of at-risk fetuses and appropriate delivery resource planning according to the degree of anticipated hemodynamic instability is crucial. Fetal echocardiography has increased prenatal CHD detection in recent years due to advancements in ultrasound techniques and improved obstetrical cardiac screening protocols, enabling the prediction of newborns' hemodynamic status...

This study had two main objectives. Firstly, we conducted a thorough literature review on the prenatal diagnosis of abdominal congenital arteriovenous fistulas (CAVFs) involving the abdominal aorta and hepatic arteries. Secondly, we aimed to provide detailed descriptions of eight additional cases diagnosed at our medical center and assess the outcome of this anomaly for informed counseling. We conducted a systematic search of online databases using specific keywords like "outcome", "ultrasound", "intrahepatic fistulae", and "fetal venous anomalies", focusing on studies published between 1998 and 2023...

Fetal anomalies, characterized by structural or functional abnormalities occurring during intrauterine life, pose a significant medical challenge, with a notable prevalence, affecting approximately 2-3% of live births and 20% of spontaneous miscarriages. This study aims to identify the genetic cause of ultrasound anomalies through clinical exome sequencing (CES) analysis. The focus is on utilizing CES analysis in a trio setting, involving the fetuses and both parents. To achieve this objective, prenatal trio clinical exome sequencing was conducted in 51 fetuseses exhibiting ultrasound anomalies with previously negative results from chromosomal microarray (CMA) analysis...

BACKGROUND: Fetal aortic valvuloplasty (FAV) is proposed to prevent hypoplastic left heart syndrome due to fetal critical aortic stenosis. OBJECTIVE: to report our experience on FAV as the first step in a complex therapeutic strategy. METHOD: Series of patients with FAV over an 18-year period. RESULTS: 27 FAVs were performed in 26 fetuses, with technical success in 82% (22/27) and periprocedural fetal demise in 22% (6/27), decreasing to 15% in the second half-cohort...

We present a case of fetal akinesia deformation sequence due to nemaline myopathy (NM). In addition to the muscle manifestations, prenatal observations included an enlarged subarachnoid space and delayed cortical development. Trio whole-exome sequencing revealed a de novo novel pathogenic variant in the ACTA1 gene, which encodes skeletal muscle alpha-actin. Our findings suggest that brain abnormalities can occur prenatally in NM and support the potential role of skeletal muscle alpha-actin in the central nervous system...

Apnea and poor respiratory drive increase the risk of extubation failure (EF) and prolonged invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in preterm neonates (pre-nates) with respiratory distress. Caffeine citrate (CC) is often prescribed for pre-nates in doses of 5-10 mg/kg in 24 h. This study aimed to evaluate the most effective dosage regimen (5 mg/kg/day vs >5-10 mg/kg/day) to prevent apnea and EF with minimal caffeine-associated potential side effects (CC-APSEs) in pre-nates. This one-year retrospective cohort study included all the eligible neonates admitted to NICU and received CC-therapy till 28 days of life (DOL) or discharge...

High incidences of congenital syphilis have been reported in areas along the Pacific coast of Colombia. In this retrospective study, conducted during 2018-2022 at a public hospital in Buenaventura, Colombia, we analyzed data from 3,378 pregnant women. The opportunity to prevent congenital syphilis was missed in 53.1% of mothers because of the lack of syphilis screening. Characteristics of higher maternal social vulnerability and late access to prenatal care decreased the probability of having >1 syphilis screening test, thereby increasing the probability of having newborns with congenital syphilis...

To examine the effects of feeding a vitamin and mineral supplement to beef heifers throughout gestation on mineral status and hormone/endocrine profiles in the dam and calf, and morphometric characteristics and organ mass of the calf at 30 h after birth, Angus-based heifers (n = 72, 14 to 15 months of age, initial body weight [BW] = 380.4 ± 50.56 kg) were estrus synchronized and artificially inseminated (AI) with female-sexed semen. Heifers were blocked by BW and randomly assigned to receive either a basal diet (CON; n = 36) or a basal diet plus a vitamin and mineral supplement (VTM; n = 36) via an individual feeding system beginning at breeding, with both diets targeting BW gains of 0...

AIM: To examine healthcare providers' extent of and perceived barriers and facilitators to screening for intimate partner violence in pregnant women attending prenatal clinics. DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive design was used to collect data from 130 healthcare providers. METHODS: Seventeen healthcare providers from 17 prenatal clinics in Kanungu district, Uganda, were recruited via convenience sampling to participate in an online survey implementing a modified Normalization Measure Development instrument...

This paper describes the scientific figure of Roger Sperry as a maverick researcher, an original thinker who arrived at definitive notions about the working of the brain mostly by distancing himself from the prevalent views of his peers. After solving the riddle of the functions of the corpus callosum, he won a Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for identifying the different cognitive abilities of the disconnected right and left hemispheres of the human brain. He could have won another Nobel prize for his work on the prenatal formation of behavioral neuronal networks and their growth and development after birth...

INTRODUCTION: Asphyxia at birth remains the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide, accounting for ∼23% of all neonatal deaths. Although the causes vary from country to country, early identification and treatment of risk factors can improve the situation. OBJECTIVES: To determine the risk factors of birth asphyxia in hospital-delivered neonates in Dodoma, Tanzania. METHODS: A matched case-control study was conducted from May to July 2017 at Dodoma Region Referral Hospital...

The vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation (VGAM) is a rare congenital arteriovenous fistula of the embryonic median prosencephalic vein of Markowski, resulting in its pathological dilation. If left untreated, it can lead to multiple severe complications in the neonatal period, among which obstructive hydrocephalus. We present a case report of a six-year-old male patient with severe status epilepticus and a clinical history of VGAM and obstructive hydrocephalus, diagnosed via an MRI and an MR-angiography. The hydrocephalus was treated via a ventriculostomy at the age of six months, while the VGAM underwent a partial transarterial endovascular embolization when the patient was four years old...