Performance of Fetal Medicine Foundation Software for Pre-Eclampsia Prediction Upon Marker Customization: Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: FMF2012 is an algorithm developed by the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) to predict pre-eclampsia on the basis of maternal characteristics combined with biophysical and biochemical markers. Afro-Caribbean ethnicity is the second risk factor, in magnitude, found in populations tested by FMF, which was not confirmed in a Brazilian setting. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the performance of pre-eclampsia prediction software by customization of maternal ethnicity. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional observational study, with secondary evaluation of data from FMF first trimester screening tests of singleton pregnancies. Risk scores were calculated from maternal characteristics and biophysical markers, and they were presented as the risk for early pre-eclampsia (PE34) and preterm pre-eclampsia (PE37). The following steps were followed: (1) identification of women characterized as black ethnicity; (2) calculation of early and preterm pre-eclampsia risk, reclassifying them as white, which generated a new score; (3) comparison of the proportions of women categorized as high risk between the original and new scores; (4) construction of the receiver operator characteristic curve; (5) calculation of the area under the curve, sensitivity, and false positive rate; and (6) comparison of the area under the curve, sensitivity, and false positive rate of the original with the new risk by chi-square test. RESULTS: A total of 1531 cases were included in the final sample, with 219 out of 1531 cases (14.30; 95% CI 12.5-16.0) and 182 out of 1531 cases (11.88%; 95% CI 10.3-13.5) classified as high risk for pre-eclampsia development, originally and after recalculating the new risk, respectively. The comparison of FMF2012 predictive model performance between the originally estimated risks and the estimated new risks showed that the difference was not significant for sensitivity and area under the curve, but it was significant for false positive rate. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that black ethnicity classification of Brazilian pregnant women by the FMF2012 algorithm increases the false positive rate. Suppressing ethnicity effect did not improve the test sensitivity. By modifying demographic characteristics, it is possible to improve some performance aspects of clinical prediction tests.

How do maternal factors impact preeclampsia prediction in Brazilian population?

Objective: To evaluate the impacts of maternal risk factors described by the Fetal Medicine Foundation's 2012 algorithm (FMF2012) in a Brazilian population. Methods: All singleton pregnancies submitted to first-trimester preeclampsia (PE) screening using the FMF2012 algorithm were considered for study inclusion. Maternal factors, recorded via a patient questionnaire, were described and compared between PE outcome groups. A Gaussian regression model was derived to measure the effects of maternal factors, and to identify factors that contributed significantly (p < .05) to the alteration of gestational age at delivery, in pregnancies with PE. Results: Of the 1934 cases considered for study inclusion, the final sample consisted of 1531 cases. The sample included 120 (7.8%) cases of PE, of which 26 (1.7%) were preterm PE (PE < 37 weeks) and 11 (0.72%) were early PE (PE < 34 weeks). The PE rate did not differ according to ethnicity, smoking, family history of PE, or use of assisted reproductive technology. Significant differences (p < .05) between the normal and PE groups in maternal age, maternal weight, previous history of PE, chronic hypertension, and types 1 and 2 diabetes were detected. Conclusions: The significance and magnitude of associations of maternal factors in our sample differed from those incorporated in the FMF2012 model, implying the need to derive a fitted model for our population.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in women with gestational diabetes mellitus from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Pregnant women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) have a greater chance of developing Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDP) by the effect of insulin resistance in nitric oxide action.This study aims to describe factors associated with the development of HDP in pregnant women with GDM, assisted in a public maternity hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This is a cross-sectional study including 292 pregnant adult women with GDM assisted at Maternidade Escola of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. The women were examined during pregnancy and postpartum. Data were collected between 2011 and 2014 from medical records and through in-person interviews. The Student t-test and the chi-square test were applied; additionally, the magnitude of the association between independents variables and HDP was estimated by logistic regression models. The occurrence of HDP was observed in 19.5% (n=57) of the evaluated women: 9.2% had pregnancy hypertension and 10.3% had preeclampsia. The chance of HDP was higher among women with GDM in a previous pregnancy (Odds Ratio-OR=3.8; Confidence Interval of 95%-95% CI: 1.1; 12.8) and among those who were 35 years old or older (OR 3.3; 95% CI: 1.2; 8.7) after controlling the effects of pre-gestational weight and dietary ingestion of calcium, riboflavin, thiamine, vitamin A and protein. Women that had any alteration in blood pressure in a previous pregnancy and those over 35 years old were under higher risk of HDP. The findings may help in the design of interventions aiming to prevent HDP in adult women.

Preeclampsia: Prevalence and perinatal repercussions in a University Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Preeclampsia (PE) prevalence studies in Brazil are both scarce and not divided in accordance with gestational age at delivery. We accessed PE prevalence according to delivery before 34, 37 and 42weeks in a cross-sectional study including 4464 single deliveries. PE was diagnosed in 301 cases (6.74%); Prevalence of PE was 0.78%; 1.92% and 6.74% according to deliveries before 34, 37 and 42weeks. PE was associated with fetal death, prematurity and small for gestational age newborns.

Síndromes hipertensivas da gestação e repercussões perinatais / Hypertensive syndromes during pregnancy and perinatal outcomes

OBJETIVOS: avaliar repercussões perinatais nas síndromes hipertensivas em gestações. MÉTODOS: estudo observacional e retrospectivo, realizado em hospital terciário, entre janeiro de 1996 e outubro de 2003. Um total de 12.272 gestações preencheu critérios de inclusão. Dois tipos de hipertensão foram considerados: hipertensão gestacional (HG) e hipertensão arterial crônica (HAC). Variáveis estudadas: fetos pequenos para idade gestacional (PIG), Apgar baixo no 1° e 5° minutos, infecção neonatal, síndrome de aspiração meconial (SAM), prematuridade, síndrome de angústia respiratória (SAR). RESULTADOS: 1259 (10,26 por cento) gestantes tinham hipertensão; 344 (2,80 por cento) foram classificadas como HG, 915 (7,45 por cento) como HAC, havendo 11.013 (89,74 por cento) gestantes normotensas. HG constituiu risco elevado para: PIG, Apgar baixo no 1° e 5° minutos, infecção neonatal e prematuridade, mas não para SAM e SAR. HAC constituiu risco elevado para: PIG, Apgar baixo no 1° minuto, SAM, prematuridade e SAR, mas não para Apgar baixo no 5° minuto e infecção neonatal. Quando comparamos os riscos relativos dos grupos de HAC e HG, houve maior risco de prematuridade no grupo de HAC. CONCLUSÕES: dados sugerem que tanto HAC quanto HG aumentaram risco para PIG, Apgar baixo no 1° e 5° minutos, infecção neonatal, SAM, prematuridade e SAR. HAC apresentou maior risco relativo para prematuridade.

Complicações perinatais em gestantes infectadas pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana / Perinatal complications in infected pregnancy women by the human immunodeficiency virus

OBJETIVOS: analisar as complicações perinatais em gestantes infectadas pelo HIV. MÉTODOS: estudo do tipo coorte, realizado em centro perinatal terciário, no período de 1 de janeiro de 1996 a 31 de março de 2003. Foram selecionadas para o estudo 7698 gestações, cujos critérios de inclusão foram: gestação única e idade gestacional superior a 22 semanas. A infecção pelo HIV foi confirmada pelos testes ELISA e Western Blot. Estudou-se a associação entre a presença da infecção pelo HIV e as seguintes variáveis: ruptura prematura de membranas, parto prematuro, muito baixo peso ao nascimento, infecção puerperal, Apgar baixo no primeiro e quinto minutos, crescimento intra-uterino restrito (CIUR) e pequeno para a idade gestacional (PIG). RESULTADOS: do total de gestantes estudadas, 228 (2,96 por cento) estavam infectadas pelo HIV. Os resultados dos testes estatísticos indicam que a infecção pelo HIV não é fator de risco para a ruptura prematura de membranas (RR = 0,48, p <0,01), parto prematuro (RR = 0,92, p = 0,01), muito baixo peso ao nascimento (RR = 0,69, p = 0,54), infecção puerperal (RR = 0,00, p = 0,31), Apgar menor do que sete no primeiro minuto (RR = 0,81, p = 0,40) e no quinto minuto (RR = 0,36, p = 0.19). Entre as variáveis estudadas, a hipótese de homogeneidade das proporções foi rejeitada para crescimento intra-uterino restrito (RR = 5,27, p <0,01) e pequeno para a idade gestacional (RR = 1,73, p < 0,01). CONCLUSÕES: a ocorrência de complicações maternas e fetais em gestantes infectadas pelo HIV não é diferente da observada em mulheres não infectadas, com exceção CIUR e PIG.