Symptomatic Uterine Rupture: A Fifteen Year Review.

Background and objectives: To assess the incidence of complete and partial uterine rupture during childbirth in a single tertiary referral centre as well as the significant risk factors, symptoms and peripartum complications. Materials and Methods: A retrospective single-centre study involved all cases of uterine rupture at the Kaunas Perinatal Centre in 2004-2019. Data were from a local medical database complemented with written information from medical records. We included 45,893 women with an intact uterus and 5630 with uterine scars. Women (n = 5626) with scarred uterus' after previous cesarean delivery. The diagnosis was defined by clinical symptoms, leading to an emergency cesarean delivery, when complete or partial uterine rupture (n = 35) was confirmed. Asymptomatic cases, when uterine rupture was found at elective cesarean section (n = 3), were excluded. The control group is represented by all births delivered in our department during the study period (n = 51,525). The outcome was complete (tearing of all uterine wall layers, including serosa and membranes) and partial uterine rupture (uterine muscle defect but intact serosa), common uterine rupture symptoms. Risk factors were parameters related to pregnancy and labour. Results: 51,525 deliveries occurred in Kaunas Perinatal Centre during the 15 years of the study period. A total number of 35 (0.06%) symptomatic uterine ruptures were recorded: 22 complete and 13 partial, leading to an incidence rate of 6.8 per 10,000 deliveries. The uterine rupture incidence rate after a single previous cesarean delivery is 44.4 per 10,000 births. 29 (83%) cases had a uterine scar after previous cesarean, 4 (11%) had a previous laparoscopic myomectomy, 2 (6%) had an unscarred uterus. The most significant risk factors of uterine rupture include uterine scarring and augmentation or epidural anaesthesia in patients with a uterine scar after cesarean delivery. The most common clinical sign was acute abdominal pain in labour 18 (51%). No maternal, six intrapartum perinatal deaths (17%) occurred, and one hysterectomy (2.8%) was performed due to uterine rupture. Neonatal mortality reached 22% among the complete ruptures. Average blood loss was 1415 mL, 4 (11%) patients required blood transfusion. Conclusions: The incidence rate of uterine rupture (complete and incomplete) at Kaunas Perinatal Centre is 6.8 per 10,000 deliveries. In cases with a scar of the uterus after a single cesarean, the incidence of uterine rupture is higher, exceeding 44 cases per 10,000 births. The most significant risk factors were uterine scar and augmentation or epidural anaesthesia in a previous cesarean delivery. Acute abdominal pain in labour is the most frequent symptom for uterine rupture.

Resolution of Fetal Hydrops Dependent on Sustained Fetal Supraventricular Tachycardia after Digoxin Therapy.

We present a special case of fetal supraventricular tachycardia detected at 34 weeks gestation. Fetal hydrops was noted on ultrasound upon admission. Normal fetal heart rate was maintained for three weeks by maternal administration of digoxin. A live infant was delivered via caesarian section at 37 weeks gestation. This clinical case demonstrated that pharmacological treatment can be effective and helps to prolong pregnancy safely.

Maternal obesity and obstetric outcomes in a tertiary referral center.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Obese women are at an increased risk of various adverse pregnancy outcomes. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of obesity on maternal and neonatal outcomes in a tertiary referral center and to compare obstetric outcomes by the level of maternal obesity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cohort study included 3247 women with singleton gestations who gave birth at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, in 2010. Pregnancy complications and neonatal outcomes were identified using the hospital Birth Registry database in normal weight (body mass index [BMI] 18.5-24.9kg/m2, n=3107) and prepregnancy obese (BMI ≥30kg/m2, n=140) women. Pregnancy outcomes were compared according to the level of obesity (BMI 30-34.9kg/m2, n=94 and BMI ≥35kg/m2, n=46). RESULTS: Obese women were significantly more likely to have gestational hypertension (OR=8.59; 95% CI, 5.23-14.14; P<0.0001), preeclampsia (OR=2.06; 95% CI, 1.14-3.73; P<0.0001), gestational diabetes (OR=5.56; 95% CI, 3.66-8.49; P<0.0001), dystocia (OR=2.14; 95% CI, 1.36-3.38; P<0.0001), induced labor (OR=2.64; 95% CI, 1.83-3.80; P<0.0001), failed induction of labor (OR=18.06; 95% CI, 8.85-36.84; P<0.0001), cesarean delivery (OR=1.76; 95% CI, 1.25-2.49; P=0.001), large-for-gestational-age newborns (OR=3.68; 95% CI, 2.51-5.39; P<0.0001). Significantly increased risk of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, dystocia and newborns with Apgar score ≤7 after 5min was only observed in women with BMI ≥35kg/m2. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal obesity is significantly associated with an increased risk of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, dystocia, labor induction, failed induction of labor, large-for-gestational-age newborns and cesarean delivery.

sFlt-1, PlGF, sFlt-1/PlGF ratio and uterine artery Doppler for preeclampsia diagnostics.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Angiogenic factors such as soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF) play a key role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Uterine artery (UA) blood flow is important for preeclamptic pregnancy outcome, but small amount of evidence suggests UA dopplerometry for preeclampsia diagnostics and management. The aim of our study was to compare the value of angiogenic factors and UA dopplerometry in preeclampsia diagnosis and determine cut-off values to obtain the highest sensitivity and specificity of the parameter. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a case controlled study of 72 pregnant women with preeclampsia and 72 healthy matched controls. SFlt-1 and PlGF were measured in serum samples, the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio was calculated and UA pulsatility (PI) and resistance (RI) indexes were registered. RESULTS: Significantly higher levels of sFlt-1, sFlt-1/PlGF ratio and mean UAPI and UARI and lower levels of PlGF were found in preeclampsia group when compared to controls. The highest sensitivity and specificity for preeclampsia had SFlt-1/PlGF and PlGF with the cut-off values of ≥35 (sensitivity of 95.8% and specificity of 96.2%, respectively) and ≤138.6pg/mL (sensitivity of 95.8% and specificity of 93.7%, respectively). For diagnostics of early-onset preeclampsia, all factors sFlt-1, PlGF and sFlt-1/PlGF had equal significance with the cut-off values of ≥7572pg/mL (specificity of 97.5%, sensitivity 92.3%), ≤100.5pg/mL (specificity 96.2%, sensitivity of 100%) and ≥54.6 (specificity 97.5%, sensitivity 97.5%) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The sFlt-1/PlGF ratio and PlGF are superior to sFlt-1, UAPI and UARI for preeclampsia diagnosis. For early-onset preeclampsia diagnostics either sFlt-1 or PlGF is sufficient.

Fetal middle cerebral artery Doppler velocimetry in cases of rhesus alloimmunization.

OBJECTIVE: To assess fetal middle cerebral artery (MCA) peak systolic velocity (PSV) in cases of rhesus alloimmunization and to establish whether MCA-PSV is valid for the prediction of fetal anemia. METHODS: The study population included 157 pregnant women diagnosed with rhesus alloimmunization. MCA-PSV measurements were obtained within 3 days of blood sampling for estimation of hemoglobin concentration either at delivery or cordocentesis by the same operator and by means of the same ultrasound machine using techniques described previously. To evaluate the measurements of the MCA-PSV as the multiples of median (MoM) for gestation we used original nomograms for various gestational ages derived from a group of 273 normal fetuses between 22 and 40 weeks of gestation, not at risk for anemia. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to evaluate the relation of the sensitivity (the true positive rate) and the false positive rate (100% specificity) of different threshold values of the MCA-PSV. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the MCA-PSV was 94.4% in the case of the subgroup of fetuses with severe anemia. The sensitivity of the MCA-PSV test decreased in less anemic fetuses and was 77.3% in the subgroup with moderate anemia and 32% in the subgroup with mild anemia. According to ROC curves, we selected the optimal MCA-PSV threshold values of 1.15, 1.44, and 1.53 MoM for the prediction of mild, moderate, and severe anemia, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: MCA-PSV is a significant Doppler index valid for the prediction of moderate and severe fetal anemia.