Maternal Plasma Nerve Growth Factor at the 11+0-13+6 Weeks' Scan as a Potential Angiogenic Marker of Preeclampsia: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the role of nerve growth factor (NGF) in the first-trimester screening for preeclampsia (PE). METHODS: Uterine artery Doppler (UtAD) was determined transvaginally. Maternal concentrations of NGF were assessed in 42 patients who subsequently developed PE and in 95 controls. Quantile and multivariate regression analyses were performed for the NGF and UtAD adjustment and expressed as the multiple of the median (MoM) of the unaffected group. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the best model for the prediction of PE. RESULTS: The maternal plasma concentration of NGF exhibited a trend towards lower values in patients who subsequently developed early-onset PE (e-PE) compared to controls (10.7 vs. 38.2 pg/ml, respectively; p = not significant). The median MoM NGF in the all-PE, e-PE and control groups was 0.97 (95% CI 0.13-3.36), 0.62 (95% CI 0.16-2.19) and 1.00 (95% CI 0.20-2.94), respectively (p = not significant). The best predictors of PE were previous PE, chronic hypertension and UtAD. With a false-positive rate of 10%, the detection rates (DRs) of all-PE and e-PE were 38 and 50%, respectively. The addition of MoM NGF did not improve the DR of PE. CONCLUSION: First-trimester NGF tends to be lower in patients who subsequently develop e-PE.

Serie guías clínicas: parto prematuro / Clinical guidelines series: preterm labor

Determinar factores de riesgo de parto prematuro espontáneo < 34 semanas.Determinar las medidas de prevención de parto prematuro espontáneo < 34 semanas.Conocer la alta tasa de falsos positivos del diagnóstico clínico de parto prematuro y el papel de la evaluación ecográfica del cérvix.Conocer el concepto del uso de tocolisis en parto prematuro.Valorar el papel de los corticoides y sulfato de magnesio en la reducción de morbi-mortalidad perinatal en el parto prematuro.Evaluar el papel de los antibióticos en el parto prematuro con membranas íntegras.

Cord Occlusion in Monochorionic Twins with Early Selective Intrauterine Growth Restriction and Abnormal Umbilical Artery Doppler: A Consecutive Series of 90 Cases.

OBJECTIVE: To describe perinatal outcomes achieved with cord occlusion (CO) in monochorionic twins with severe selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR) and abnormal umbilical artery Doppler in the IUGR twin (types II and III). METHODS: We studied a consecutive series of 90 cases of sIUGR with abnormal Doppler treated with CO of the IUGR fetus. Abnormal Doppler was defined as continuous (type II, n = 41) or intermittent (type III, n = 49) absent/reversed end-diastolic flow. All cases presented at least one of the following severity criteria: gestational age (GA) <22 weeks, inter-twin estimated weight discordance >35%, reversed end-diastolic umbilical artery flow or ductus venosus pulsatility index >95th centile. We prospectively recorded pregnancy course and perinatal outcome. RESULTS: Median GA at surgery was 20.6 weeks and mean duration 22.4 min. Miscarriage (<24 weeks) occurred in 3.3% (3/90) and preterm delivery <32 weeks in 7.1% (6/84) of continuing pregnancies. GA at delivery was 36.4 weeks and neonatal survival of the larger twin was achieved in 93.3%. CONCLUSION: In a consecutive series studied by an experienced team, CO in monochorionic twins with severe sIUGR type II or III was associated with delivery >32 weeks in 92.9% and neonatal survival of the normal twin in 93.3% of pregnancies.

Cribado de parto prematuro con progesterona salival / Screening of premature labor with salivary progesterone

Preterm birth is the most frequent cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality, especially before 34 weeks. Current screening methods include medical history of preterm delivery and ultrasound assessment of cervix length during the second trimester of pregnancy, which give a detection rate of approximately 65 percent with a false positive rate of 10 percent. Vaginal progesterone therapy has proved to reduce the risk of early preterm delivery by 50 percent in patient under risk. This might suggest that preterm pregnancies have lower levels of progesterone compared to term pregnancies. Although, the prediction of prematurity using biomarkers, including plasma progesterone, has been researched for several years, none of them have proved to be associated with preterm delivery. However, measuring salivary progesterone has already been suggested to be a potential biomarker associated with prematurity in pregnancies at high risk of preterm delivery. Saliva is a fluid that reflects only the free fraction of the biologically active steroidal hormone, and thus is more representative measure than the total plasma progesterone, which is the one usually measured in laboratories. For these reasons, the aim of our study is to evaluate whether the assessment of salivary progesterone can be used as a screening test for prediction of preterm delivery less than 34 weeks in pregnant women who attended at our Fetal Medicine Unit at 11-14 and 20-25 weeks of gestation.

Serie guías clínicas: manejo del embarazo gemelar / Clinical guidelines series: management of pregnancy twin

Explicar el diagnóstico y clasificación de los embarazos gemelares.Explicar el modelo de control prenatal de los embarazos gemelares que se aplica en el Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile. Definir el momento y la vía de interrupción de los distintos tipos de embarazos gemelares nocomplicados. Referirse al parto prematuro en el embarazo gemelar.

[Causes and management of severe acute liver damage during pregnancy]. / Actualización en el diagnóstico y manejo del daño hepático agudo grave en el embarazo.

Abnormalities in liver function tests appear in 3% of pregnancies. Severe acute liver damage can be an exclusive condition of pregnancy (dependent or independent of pre-eclampsia) or a concomitant disease. HELLP syndrome and acute fatty liver of pregnancy are the most severe liver diseases associated with pregnancy. Both appear during the third trimester and have a similar clinical presentation. Acute fatty liver may be associated with hypoglycemia and HELLP syndrome is closely linked with pre-eclampsia. Among concomitant conditions, fulminant acute hepatitis caused by medications or virus is the most severe disease. Its clinical presentation may be hyper-acute with neurological involvement and severe coagulation disorders. It has a high mortality and patients should be transplanted. Fulminant hepatic failure caused by acetaminophen overdose can be managed with n-acetyl cysteine. Because of the high fetal mortality rate, the gestational age at diagnosis is crucial.

Actualización en el diagnóstico y manejo del daño hepático agudo grave en el embarazo / Causes and management of severe acute liver damage during pregnancy

Abnormalities in liver function tests appear in 3% of pregnancies. Severe acute liver damage can be an exclusive condition of pregnancy (dependent or independent of pre-eclampsia) or a concomitant disease. HELLP syndrome and acute fatty liver of pregnancy are the most severe liver diseases associated with pregnancy. Both appear during the third trimester and have a similar clinical presentation. Acute fatty liver may be associated with hypoglycemia and HELLP syndrome is closely linked with pre-eclampsia. Among concomitant conditions, fulminant acute hepatitis caused by medications or virus is the most severe disease. Its clinical presentation may be hyper-acute with neurological involvement and severe coagulation disorders. It has a high mortality and patients should be transplanted. Fulminant hepatic failure caused by acetaminophen overdose can be managed with n-acetyl cysteine. Because of the high fetal mortality rate, the gestational age at diagnosis is crucial.

Resultado neonatal e infantil de niños con y sin transfusión intrauterina por isoinmunización Rh durante el embarazo / Neonatal outcome of children with and without intrauterine transfusion for Rh isoimmunization during pregnancy

Objetivo: Comparar la morbilidad neonatal y a seis meses de vida de hijos de pacientes con isoinmunización Rh que recibieron al menos una transfusión intrauterina (TIU), con aquellos que no la requirieron. Método: Estudio de caso y control de pacientes con diagnóstico de isoinmunización Rh controladas en la Unidad de Medicina Fetal del Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile. Se comparó el resultado perinatal y hasta 6 meses de vida de recién nacidos (RN) con TIU (9 casos) y sin TIU (14 casos) entre los años 2004 y 2009. Resultados: Aunque la sobrevida a los 6 meses de los fetos con TIU fue alrededor de un 80 por ciento, solo una muerte puede atribuirse a la severidad de su condición de base. Los RN con TIU nacieron a una menor edad gestacional que los que no requirieron este tratamiento (34,4 +/- 2,2 sem vs. 37,4 +/- 0,6 sem; p=0,003). Al evaluar el manejo neonatal inmediato se observa que el 60 por ciento de los RN isoinmunizados sin TIU requirieron ser hospitalizados y requirieron fototerapia, mientras que todos los RN con antecedente de TIU fueron hospitalizados, recibieron fototerapia y 30 por ciento requirió una exanguineo transfusión. A los 6 meses de vida, 75 por ciento y 20 por ciento de los RN isoinmunizados, con y sin TIU, fueron hospitalizados para una nueva transfusión de GR y/o fototerapia, respectivamente. Conclusión: La isoinmunización Rh es una patología de alto riesgo, pero la terapia intrauterina, en los casos con anemia moderada y severa, permite llegar a edades gestacionales que dan una adecuada sobrevida.

Objective: To compare neonatal and six months of life morbidity of babies affected by Rh isoimmunization during pregnancy that required at least one intrauterine blood transfusion, with babies that did not required that procedure. Methods: Case control study of patients with diagnosis of Rh isoimmunization under control in the Fetal Medicine Unit at the University of Chile Hospital. Perinatal and until 6 months of life outcomes of isoimmunized newborns (NB) with (9 cases) and without intrauterine transfusion (IUT) (14 cases) between years 2004 and 2009 were compared. Results: Although six months of life survival of IUT babies was about 80 percent only one death was related to the severity of isoimmunization. Isoimmunized babies with IUT were delivered at a lower gestational age than those without IUT (34.4 +/- 2.2 vs. 37.4 +/- 0.6 weeks; p=0.003). At the immediate neonatal period only 60 percent of isoimmunized babies without IUT required hospitalization and phototherapy, in contrast to IUT babies where all of them were hospitalized and required phototherapy, and 30 percent required exchange transfusion. Until six months of life, 75 percent and 20 percent of NB with and without IUT required another hospitalization for a new transfusion and/or phototherapy respectively. Conclusion: Rh isoimmunization is a high risk disease, but intrauterine therapy in cases with moderate and severe fetal anemia increases gestational age at delivery with good survival rates.

Oxidative damage to pre-eclamptic placenta: immunohistochemical expression of VEGF, nitrotyrosine residues and von Willebrand factor.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of biomarkers of placental damage by oxidative stress in pre-eclamptic placenta. METHODS: A case-control study was performed on a population of 14 pregnant women with PE and 12 women with normal pregnancies. Immunohistochemical expressions of VEGF, vWF distribution, (Na + K)-ATPase activity, and abundance of nitrotyrosine residues, were assessed in the placental tissue. RESULTS: Women with pre-eclampsia showed increased VEGF expression and abundance of nitrotyrosine residues in placental villous, and plasma vWF levels (p < 0.05), whereas placental (Na + K)-ATPase activity were significantly reduced. The syncytiotrophoblast and the maternal space of pre-eclamptic placenta showed diminished and increased vWF expression, respectively, but no significant differences in its expression were found in the placental endothelium and stroma (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It could be suggested that increased oxidative stress and VEGF contribute to enhance the impairment of placental perfusion by increasing peroxynitrite formation, product of the NO and superoxide reaction, thereby partly contributing to account for the pathophysiology of this disease. The presence of vWF in the maternal space and its diminished expression in syncytiotrophoblast of pre-eclamptic placenta also might have pathogenic implications.