RISK ASSESSMENT IN PREGNANCY AMONG WOMEN AGED OVER FORTY.

The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between women's age and risk of pregnancy-related complications. The study was a retrospective cohort analysis of the pregnancy-related complications and outcomes between two age groups of parturient women. Categorical data were expressed as absolute and relative frequencies. Statistical analysis was performed using χ2-test. The incidence of gestational diabetes was higher in the 40-47 age group as compared with the 20-24 age group. The rates of hypertension, preeclampsia, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and hypothyroidism did not differ between the two groups. The rates of labor induction, oxytocin use, vaginal delivery, and need for episiotomy were higher in younger age group. Dystocia and breech presentation as indications for cesarean section were more common among younger women. According to study results, the risk of gestational diabetes and rates of cesarean delivery increased with advanced maternal age.

Urinary troponin concentration as a marker of cardiac damage in pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia.

Pregnant women with preeclampsia experience significant hemodynamic changes which lead to an increased myocardial workload. In response to increased demands in pregnancy, the heart muscle responds with ventricular remodeling process which involves cardiac muscle hypertrophy. Opposed to occurrence of eccentric ventricular hypertrophy in normal pregnancy, myocardial remodeling in a form of concentric hypertrophy will occur in pregnant patients with preeclampsia. Increased myocardial workload is manifested by an increased troponin release. As process of troponin degradation continue, filtration of degradation fragment through glomerular membrane occur, raising the possibility of it's detection in urine. Degradation fragments of troponin molecules are estimated to be 20 kDa with preserved immunoreactivity to high-sensitivity assays. Some of the authors suggest that serum levels of cardiac troponin I might be elevated in patients with hypertension, as well as in preeclamptic pregnant women. It is to be expected that evaluation of severity of the myocardial damage in pregnant woman with preeclampsia may be performed by measuring levels of troponin in the urine using high-sensitivity assays. Designing of urine dipstick will help to detect an early phase of myocardial involvement in preeclamptic pregnancies.

PREGNANCY OUTCOME IN GESTATIONAL DIABETES COMPARED TO BODY MASS INDEX.

Gestational diabetes involves disorder of glucose metabolism first diagnosed in pregnancy. Obese women undoubtedly have more often complications in reproductive age, such as fertility difficulties, spontaneous and recurrent miscarriages, premature births, and various obstetric and surgical complications related to the course of pregnancy, delivery and puerperium. Children of obese pregnant women are more likely to develop obesity in childhood and adulthood. We analyzed the outcome of 51 pregnancies in obese pregnant women and 50 pregnant women with normal body mass index. All women in both groups were diagnosed with gestational diabetes by the IADPSG criteria. We analyzed gestational age at delivery and mode of delivery, gestational weight gain, presence of concomitant diagnosis of gestational or chronic hypertension, difference in birth weight, and prevalence of hypertrophic newborns. There was no significant difference in gestational age at pregnancy termination and in the mode of delivery. There was a significant difference in gestational weight gain, number of pregnant women with hypertension, neonatal birth weight and number of hypertrophic children. Based on the data presented, we conclude that obesity is an unfavorable factor for pregnancy outcome. It also influences birth weight and fetal hypertrophy, as well as gestational weight gain.

Incidental Finding Of Hyperreactio Luteinalis during Caesarean Section in Twin Pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Some benign changes of the ovaries like hyper reaction luteinalis sometimes cannot be differentiated from malignant ones without histological examination. In these cases, surgical intervention sometimes cannot be avoided. Hyperreactio luteinalis is a condition that can occur only in pregnancy. It is characterised by bilateral benign multicystic ovarian enlargement. CASE REPORT: We present a case of misleading intraoperative findings during Cesarean section that ended with ovariectomy. CONCLUSION: During the Caesarean section, some benign masses of the ovaries, like hyper reaction luteinalis, are difficult to differentiate from malignant disease without histological examination, requiring surgical intervention.

CERVICAL RIPENING BALLOON AS A METHOD OF PREINDUCTION - ONE CENTER STUDY.

- Cervical ripening can be promoted in many ways, but mechanical methods are among the oldest. Like all other methods, this one also has its pros and cons. Disadvantages compared to pharmacological methods include some maternal discomfort upon manipulation of the cervix, a theoretical increase in the risk of maternal and neonatal infection from the introduction of a foreign body, potential disruption of a low-lying placenta, and increase in the need of oxytocin induction of labor. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of using cervical ripening balloon in preinduction on the mode of delivery. This was a longitudinal, cohort, intervention, non-randomized one center study. Inclusion criteria were term pregnancies with gestational diabetes, oligohydramnios, intrauterine growth restriction, gestational hypertension/preeclampsia and pregnancies after 41 weeks of pregnancy. Preinduction of labor was performed in term pregnancies at Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center. Results in the first 150 women having undergone labor preinduction with cervical ripening balloon were included. Two-sided p values <0.05 were considered significant. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS Version 20.0. The study included 150 women; one woman was excluded from further analyses due to conversion of fetal presentation (head to breech). Indications for labor preinduction were as follows: gestational diabetes, oligohydramnios, intrauterine growth restriction, gestational hypertension/preeclampsia and pregnancies after 41 weeks of pregnancy. Women with normal vaginal delivery (96/149) had lower rates of gestational diabetes and oligohydramnios and used epidural analgesia more frequently. Women with dystocia (32/53) had a significantly longer labor duration and higher neonatal birth weight. In multivariate analysis, multiparity, greater cervical dilatation after balloon removal and use of epidural analgesia were associated with a decreased risk of cesarean section, while the presence of gestational diabetes and oligohydramnios was associated with an increased risk of cesarean section. We found this preinduction method safe and efficient, with a potential to increase the rate of vaginal deliveries.

Effect of epidural analgesia on mode of delivery.

Continuous epidural analgesia is considered to be the gold standard of pain relief in labour. The objective of this study was to examine the connections between epidural analgesia and the frequency of instrument-assisted deliveries. We retrospectively analysed data encompassing epidural analgesia applications during 2012 and the connections with an increased frequency of instrumental deliveries. Out of 3157 births in 2012, epidural analgesia was used in 443 (14.03 %). Epidural analgesia significantly increased the number of instrumental deliveries with vacuum extraction (χ2 = 35.01; df = 1; p < 0.01) and the number of emergency caesarean sections (χ2 = 18.01; df = 1; p < 0.01). A significantly higher percentage of dystocia leading to emergency caesarean sections was noted in deliveries with epidural analgesia (χ2 = 6.15; df = 1; p < 0.05). An increase in instrumental delivery incidence seems to be an acceptable risk in view of epidural analgesia-related positive effects that future mothers should be informed of.

Do Changing Diagnostic Criteria for Gestational Diabetes Influence Pregnancy Outcome?

The incidence of pregnancy related diabetes has been steadily increasing during the past decade. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the type and prevalence of gestational diabetes complications after implementing new diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes. The incidence of gestational diabetes, maternal age, mode of delivery and birth weight were analyzed. Study patients were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of patients who gave birth during 2005, the second group during 2011 and the third group during 2012. In 2005, the World Health Organization criteria were used on diagnosing gestational diabetes, whereas in 2011 and 2012 the criteria issued by the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups were considered. There was no statistically significant difference among the groups according to maternal age, birth weight (p=0.203) and mode of delivery (p=0.883). Cesarean section was performed in about 30% of deliveries in all groups combined. There was no significant difference in the number of neonatal hypertrophy (p=0.348), although the distribution of hypertrophy showed a tendency towards higher values in 2005. The incidence of gestational diabetes was 2.2% in 2005, 6.6% in 2011 and 12% in 2012. In conclusion, difference in the incidence of pregnancy related diabetes appeared to have resulted directly from using different diagnostic criteria. The new criteria contributed to a relatively higher incidence of gestational diabetes but also achieved better gestational glycemic control and consequently better fetal growth regulation.

Serotonin risk factors for the development of hypertension in pregnancy.

PURPOSE: To determine platelet serotonin (5-HT) concentrations and genotype and allele frequencies of serotonergic type 2A receptor gene (HTR2A) and 5-HT transporter gene (SLC6A4) in women with pre-eclampsia, gestational hypertension without proteinuria (PIH) and in control normotensive pregnant women. METHODS: The study included 96 control women, 131 women with PIH and 84 women with pre-eclampsia (ICD-10 criteria) in the last trimester of pregnancy. Variants of the HTR2A T102C (rs6313) and SLC6A4 (5-HTTLPR and rs25531) were determined by the PCR and real-time PCR procedures. Platelet 5-HT concentrations were analyzed by the spectrofluorimetric method. RESULTS: The frequency of the 5HTTLPR and of HTR2A T102C genotypes or alleles was similar between three groups of pregnant women and was not associated with low platelet 5-HT concentrations observed in pregnant women with PIH or pre-eclampsia. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm alterations in the peripheral 5-HT system in pregnancy-induced hypertension. Low platelet 5-HT concentration is a common feature of both PIH and pre-eclampsia. The results did not support the hypothesis that hypertension in pregnancy is a trait associated with polymorphic variants of the HTR2A and SLC6A4 or that they have a role in the predisposition to hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. The further studies are necessary to elucidate the role of 5-HT and genetic factors in the development of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.

Biochemical screening of fetal aneuploidies and neural tube defects by "double-test" in Croatia: a 10 years' experience.

The aim of the study is to investigate the efficiency of the second-trimester biochemical screening, with maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MS-AFP) and free beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (free beta-hCG), during the ten-year period. The study included 11,292 of pregnant women between the 15th and 18th gestational week, who underwent screening from November 1996 to December 2006. The risk for trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 were calculated by computer software, based on a model which generated the final risk for fetal aneuploidies from the pregnant woman's a priori age risk and the likelihood ratio of the distribution of the biochemical markers, according to the second-trimester gestation. With the cut-off value of the final risk > or = 1:250, the detection rate for trisomy 21 was 75% (21/28). In women less than or equal to 35, the detection was 57.1% (8/14) and 92.9% (13/14) in those over 35 years, respectively. The detection rate of trisomy 18 was 50% (2/4). The results confirmed that the implementation of double-test, as non-invasive screening for fetal aneuploidies, should be accepted as a complementary method of antenatal care.

The impact of temporal variability of biochemical markers PAPP-A and free beta-hCG on the specificity of the first-trimester Down syndrome screening: a Croatian retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The variability of maternal serum biochemical markers for Down syndrome, free beta-hCG and PAPP-A can have a different impact on false-positive rates between the 10+0 and 13+6 week of gestation. The study population comprised 2883 unaffected, singleton, spontaneously conceived pregnancies in Croatian women, who delivered apparently healthy child at term. Women were separated in 4 groups, dependently on the gestational week when the analyses of biochemical markers were performed. The concentrations of free beta-hCG and PAPP-A in maternal serum were determined by solid-phase, enzyme-labeled chemiluminiscent immunometric assay (Siemens Immulite). Concentrations were converted to MoMs, according to centre-specific weighted regression median curves for both markers in unaffected pregnancies. The individual risks for trisomies 21, 18 and 13 were computed by Prisca 4.0 software. FINDINGS: There were no significant differences between the sub-groups, regarding maternal age, maternal weight and the proportion of smokers. The difference in log10 MoM free beta-hCG values, between the 11th and 12th gestational week, was significant (p = 0.002). The difference in log10 MoM PAPP-A values between the 11th and 12th, and between 12th and 13th week of gestation was significant (p = 0.006 and p = 0.003, respectively). False-positive rates of biochemical risk for trisomies were 16.1% before the 11th week, 12.8% in week 12th, 11.9% in week 13th and 9.9% after week 13th. The differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Biochemical markers (log10 MoMs) showed gestation related variations in the first-trimester unaffected pregnancies, although the variations could not be attributed either to the inaccuracy of analytical procedures or to the inappropriately settled curves of median values for the first-trimester biochemical markers.