Telemedicine in post-molar follow-up: is it a useful tool?

BACKGROUND: Telemonitoring is an alternative to in-person appointments and overcomes geographic distance barriers. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate adherence to post-molar follow-up using both WhatsApp and in-person appointments compared with standard care. The secondary objective was to evaluate the rate of completion of post-molar follow-up of complete moles, considering 6 and 3 months of duration. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Gestational Trophoblastic Disease Center, São Paulo Hospital. Patients with complete or partial mole treatment between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2018 were included in two groups: group 1 (patients from 2009 to 2013) and group 2 (from 2014 to 2018), before and after telemonitoring implementation, respectively. Complete follow-up was considered if after the first normal human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level (<5 mIU/mL), the patient was followed up for an additional 30 days (partial mole) or 180 days (complete mole). Loss to post-molar follow-up with positive hCG was also evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson's Χ2 test, 5% significance level (p=0.05), and R version 4.0.2. RESULTS: A total of 308 patients were included in the study, 92 of them were assessed in group 1 and 216 patients in group 2. There was no difference between the rates of complete follow-up after telemonitoring implementation (complete mole: 42/72=58.3% group 1 vs 85/163=52.1% group 2; p=0.38; partial mole: 16/20=80% group 1 vs 37/53=69.8 group 2; p=0.3), and no increase of loss to post-molar follow-up with positive hCG (8/92=8.7% group 1 vs 14/216=6.5% group 2; p=0.49). The shortening of follow-up of complete moles to 90 days increased the rate of complete post-molar follow-up (from 127/235=54.0% to 189/235=80.4%, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The association of telemonitoring with in-person appointments could have had an advantage in post-molar follow-up since it did not reduce adherence to hormonal surveillance. Shortening post-molar follow-up after complete mole to 90 days after the first normal hCG level increased the rate of complete post-molar follow-up.

Maternal near miss and potentially life-threatening condition determinants in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus at a university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: To date, the rates of potentially life-threatening condition (PTLC), maternal near miss (MNM) and maternal deaths in pregnant patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and variables associated to it have not been studied. METHODS: This study was as a cross-sectional retrospective study conducted at São Paulo Hospital of Universidade Federal de São Paulo, a tertiary hospital that provides public medical care through the Brazilian unified health system to high-risk pregnancies. Inclusion criteria were T1DM pregnant women who delivered from January 2005 to December 2015. Three groups were established by the World Heath Organization criteria and associations were assessed using the chi-square test in between MNM and no morbidity or PLTC and no morbidity. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The final sample included 137 patients, 8 MNM cases (5.84%), 51 PLTC (37.23%), no cases of maternal deaths and 78 patients (56.93%) did not present any complication. Moreover, there were 122 live births, resulting in a near miss rate of 65.5 per 1.000 live births in patients with T1DM. Two of the MNM cases were for clinical criteria (uncontrollable fit in both) and laboratory criteria for the other six: one patient with severe acute azotemia (creatinine > 300 µmol/ml), one patient with severe hypoperfusion (lactate > 5 mmol/L) and four of them with loss of consciousness and the presence of glucose and ketoacids in urine. PLTC criteria were studied in MNM and PLTC cases. Prolonged hospital stay was the most prevalent PLTC criteria in both groups (100% of MNM cases and 96% of PLTC), followed by renal failure in 50% of MNM cases and severe preeclampsia in 22% of PLTC cases. This study could not find any association between prenatal factors or sociodemographic characteristics with maternal morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: MNM rate in T1DM was extremely high, and determined by complications of the primary disease or hypertensive disorders. No sociodemographic variables studied were related to maternal morbidity; therefore, we could not predict what increases MNM and PLTC in this specific population.