American journal of obstetrics and gynecology
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Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. · Jul 2016
Preterm neonatal morbidity and mortality by gestational age: a contemporary cohort.
Although preterm birth <37 weeks' gestation is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in the United States, the majority of data regarding preterm neonatal outcomes come from older studies, and many reports have been limited to only very preterm neonates. Delineation of neonatal outcomes by delivery gestational age is needed to further clarify the continuum of mortality and morbidity frequencies among preterm neonates. ⋯ Our data show that there is a continuum of outcomes, with each additional week of gestation conferring survival benefit while reducing the length of initial hospitalization. These contemporary data can be useful for patient counseling regarding preterm outcomes.
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Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. · Jul 2016
17-Hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17OHP-C) coverage among eligible women delivering at 2 North Carolina hospitals in 2012 and 2013: A retrospective cohort study.
Although a weekly injection of 17-hydroxyprogestone caproate is recommended for preventing recurrent preterm birth, clinical experience in North Carolina suggested that many eligible patients were not receiving the intervention. ⋯ Even under our liberal definition of coverage, less than half of eligible women received 17-hydroxyprogesterone caproate in this sample. Low overall use suggests that there is opportunity for improvement. Quality improvement strategies, including population-based measurement of 17-hydroxyprogesterone caproate coverage, are needed to fully implement this evidence-based intervention to decrease preterm birth.
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Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. · Jul 2016
A multi-state analysis of postpartum readmissions in the United States.
Readmission rates are used as a quality metric in medical and surgical specialties; however, little is known about obstetrics readmissions. ⋯ Postpartum readmission rates have risen over the last 8 years. Understanding the risk factors, etiologies, and cause-specific timing for postpartum readmissions may aid in the development of new quality metrics in obstetrics and targeted strategies to curb the rising rate of postpartum readmissions in the United States.
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Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. · Jun 2016
Treatment patterns and short-term outcomes in ischemic stroke in pregnancy or postpartum period.
Stroke, which is a rare but devastating event during pregnancy, occurs in 34 of every 100,000 deliveries; obstetricians are often the first providers to be contacted by symptomatic patients. At least one-half of pregnancy-related strokes are likely to be of the ischemic stroke subtype. Most pregnant or newly postpartum women with ischemic stroke do not receive acute stroke reperfusion therapy, although this is the recommended treatment for adults. Little is known about these therapies in pregnant or postpartum women because pregnancy has been an exclusion criterion for all reperfusion trials. Until recently, pregnancy and obstetric delivery were specifically identified as warnings to intravenous alteplase tissue plasminogen activator in Federal Drug Administration labeling. ⋯ Using data from the Get With the Guidelines-Stroke Registry to assemble the largest cohort of pregnant or postpartum ischemic stroke patients who had been treated with reperfusion therapy, we observed that pregnant or postpartum women had similarly favorable short-term outcomes and equal rates of total reperfusion therapy to nonpregnant women, despite lower rates of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator use. Future studies should identify the characteristics of pregnant and postpartum ischemic stroke patients who are most likely to safely benefit from reperfusion therapy.
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Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. · Jun 2016
Ultrasound diagnosis and management of acquired uterine enhanced myometrial vascularity/arteriovenous malformations.
Arteriovenous malformation is a short circuit between an organ's arterial and venous circulation. Arteriovenous malformations are classified as congenital and acquired. In the uterus, they may appear after curettage, cesarean delivery, and myomectomy among others. Their clinical feature is usually vaginal bleeding, which may be severe, if curettage is performed in unrecognized cases. Sonographically on 2-dimensional grayscale ultrasound scanning, the pathologic evidence appears as irregular, anechoic, tortuous, tubular structures that show evidence of increased vascularity when color Doppler is applied. Most of the time they resolve spontaneously; however, if left untreated, they may require involved treatments such as uterine artery embolization or hysterectomy. In the past, uterine artery angiography was the gold standard for the diagnosis; however, ultrasound scanning has diagnosed successfully and helped in the clinical management. Recently, arteriovenous malformations have been referred to as enhanced myometrial vascularities. ⋯ Acquired enhanced myometrial vascularity/arteriovenous malformations occurred after unsuccessful pregnancies or treatment procedures that included uterine curettage, cesarean delivery, or cesarean scar pregnancy. Triage of patients for expectant treatment vs intervention with uterine artery embolization based on their clinical status, which was supplemented by objective measurements of blood velocity measurement in the arteriovenous malformation, appears to be a good predictor of outcome. Ultrasound evaluation of patients with early pregnancy failure and persistent bleeding should be considered for evaluation of a possible enhanced myometrial vascularity/arteriovenous malformation.