Perinatal mortality and morbidity in a nationwide cohort of 529,688 low-risk planned home and hospital births.

OBJECTIVE: To compare perinatal mortality and severe perinatal morbidity between planned home and planned hospital births, among low-risk women who started their labour in primary care. DESIGN: A nationwide cohort study. SETTING: The entire Netherlands. POPULATION: A total of 529,688 low-risk women who were in primary midwife-led care at the onset of labour. Of these, 321,307 (60.7%) intended to give birth at home, 163,261 (30.8%) planned to give birth in hospital and for 45,120 (8.5%), the intended place of birth was unknown. METHODS: Analysis of national perinatal and neonatal registration data, over a period of 7 years. Logistic regression analysis was used to control for differences in baseline characteristics. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intrapartum death, intrapartum and neonatal death within 24 hours after birth, intrapartum and neonatal death within 7 days and neonatal admission to an intensive care unit. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between planned home and planned hospital birth (adjusted relative risks and 95% confidence intervals: intrapartum death 0.97 (0.69 to 1.37), intrapartum death and neonatal death during the first 24 hours 1.02 (0.77 to 1.36), intrapartum death and neonatal death up to 7 days 1.00 (0.78 to 1.27), admission to neonatal intensive care unit 1.00 (0.86 to 1.16). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that planning a home birth does not increase the risks of perinatal mortality and severe perinatal morbidity among low-risk women, provided the maternity care system facilitates this choice through the availability of well-trained midwives and through a good transportation and referral system.

Cost-effectiveness of different treatment strategies with intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent early-onset group B streptococcal disease.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the costs and effects of different treatment strategies with intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent early-onset group B streptococcal (GBS) disease in the Netherlands. The treatment strategies include a risk-based strategy, a screening-based strategy, a combined screening/risk-based strategy and the current Dutch guideline. DESIGN: Cost-effectiveness analysis based on decision model. SETTING: Obstetric care system in the Netherlands. POPULATION/SAMPLE: Hypothetical cohort of 200,000 neonates. METHODS: A decision analysis model was used to compare the costs and effects of different treatment strategies with no treatment. Baseline estimates were derived from literature and a survey among parents of children affected by GBS disease. The analysis was performed from a societal perspective, and costs and effects were discounted at a percentage of 3%. Main outcome measures Cost per quality adjusted of life-year (QALY). RESULT: The risk-based strategy will prevent 352 cases of early-onset GBS for 5.0 million Euros, indicating a cost-effectiveness ratio of 7600 Euros per QALY gained. The combined screening risk-based strategy has comparable results. The current Dutch guideline resulted in lower effects for higher costs. The screening-based strategy shows the highest reduction in cases of early-onset GBS, however, at a cost-effectiveness ratio of 59,300 Euros per QALY gained. Introducing the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test may lead to a more favourable cost-effectiveness ratio. CONCLUSION: In the Dutch system, the combined screening/risk-based strategy and the risk-based strategy have reasonable cost-effectiveness ratios. If it becomes feasible to add the PCR test, the cost-effectiveness of the combined screening/risk-based strategy may even be more favourable.

In vivo induced malignant hyperthermia in pigs. I. Physiological and biochemical changes and the influence of dantrolene sodium.

The effects of an induced malignant hyperthermia (MH) crisis have been studied in the intact pig. Both physiological and biochemical changes in skeletal muscle were studied. MH was induced with 3% halothane plus a bolus injection of succinylcholine. In the prechallenge period a significant difference was observed in the concentration of certain muscle metabolites, comparing the MH-susceptible (MH+) with the non-susceptible (MH-) pigs. A lower level was measured for phosphocreatine (PCr), inosine monophosphate (IMP) and an increased level of lactate and creatine (Cr) in the susceptible pigs (MH+). The challenge caused a significant reduction of the level of PCr and adenosine in MH+ pigs, compared to the prechallenge period. After administration of dantrolene sodium, a significant decrease was measured in the level of lactate, compared to the prechallenge period as well as during the challenge. In contrast, in the control pigs no significant changes were observed in muscle metabolites, either after induction of MH or after the administration of dantrolene sodium. Enzyme activity determinations of muscle adenylate kinase and adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-deaminase did not show any difference in activity either before or during the MH crisis or after treatment with dantrolene sodium. The earliest physiological change during an induced MH crisis in our study was the rapid increase of the end-tidal CO2. Within 5 min after MH induction, end-tidal CO2 was doubled. It is concluded that the monitoring of the end-tidal CO2 is essential to diagnose MH at a very early stage.