The association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and preterm delivery: a prospective study with a multivariable analysis.

BACKGROUND: To determine whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 disease) exposure in pregnancy, compared to non-exposure, is associated with infection-related obstetric morbidity. METHODS: We conducted a multicentre prospective study in pregnancy based on a universal antenatal screening program for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Throughout Spain 45 hospitals tested all women at admission on delivery ward using polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) for COVID-19 since late March 2020. The cohort of positive mothers and the concurrent sample of negative mothers was followed up until 6-weeks post-partum. Multivariable logistic regression analysis, adjusting for known confounding variables, determined the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of the association of SARS-CoV-2 infection and obstetric outcomes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Preterm delivery (primary), premature rupture of membranes and neonatal intensive care unit admissions. RESULTS: Among 1009 screened pregnancies, 246 were SARS-CoV-2 positive. Compared to negative mothers (763 cases), SARS-CoV-2 infection increased the odds of preterm birth (34 vs 51, 13.8% vs 6.7%, aOR 2.12, 95% CI 1.32-3.36, p = 0.002); iatrogenic preterm delivery was more frequent in infected women (4.9% vs 1.3%, p = 0.001), while the occurrence of spontaneous preterm deliveries was statistically similar (6.1% vs 4.7%). An increased risk of premature rupture of membranes at term (39 vs 75, 15.8% vs 9.8%, aOR 1.70, 95% CI 1.11-2.57, p = 0.013) and neonatal intensive care unit admissions (23 vs 18, 9.3% vs 2.4%, aOR 4.62, 95% CI 2.43-8.94, p <  0.001) was also observed in positive mothers. CONCLUSION: This prospective multicentre study demonstrated that pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 have more infection-related obstetric morbidity. This hypothesis merits evaluation of a causal association in further research.

Cervical Pessary Compared With Vaginal Progesterone for Preventing Early Preterm Birth: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of a cervical pessary and vaginal progesterone to prevent spontaneous preterm births in pregnant women with cervical lengths 25 mm or less as measured by transvaginal ultrasonography. METHODS: This was a multicenter, open-label, randomized, noninferiority trial. Women with singleton pregnancies and a short cervix (25 mm or less) measured transvaginally at the second-trimester ultrasonogram were invited to participate. They were computer-randomized (one to one) into cervical pessary placement or treatment with vaginal progesterone (200 mg/24 hours). The primary outcome was spontaneous preterm delivery before 34 weeks of gestation. The noninferiority margin was set at 4% with a 0.025 one-sided α level and a statistical power of 80%. That is, if the 95% CI upper bound exceeded 4%, the pessary could not be deemed noninferior. A sample size of 254 women was required to show noninferiority of the pessary to progesterone. RESULTS: The trial was conducted from August 2012 to April 2016 with the participation of 27 Spanish hospitals. A total of 254 patients were enrolled and 246 included in the intention-to-treat analysis. Demographic and baseline characteristics were similar across groups. The rate of spontaneous delivery before 34 weeks of gestation was 14% (n=18/127) in the pessary group and 14% (n=17/119) in the progesterone group with a risk difference of -0.11% (95% CI -8.85% to 8.62%; P=.99), that is, noninferiority was not shown for the pessary. The incidence of increased vaginal discharge (87% vs 71%, P=.002) and discomfort (27% vs 3%, P<.001) was significantly higher in the pessary group. CONCLUSION: A cervical pessary was not noninferior to vaginal progesterone for preventing spontaneous birth before 34 weeks of gestation in pregnant women with short cervixes. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: EU Clinical Trials Register, 2012-000241-13; ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01643980.

Patrón cardiotocográfico sinusoidal atípico asociado a anemia fetal grave por transfusión feto-materna / Atypical sinusoidal pattern associated with severe fetal anemia caused by fetal-maternal transfusion

El patrón sinusoidal se define como una frecuencia cardíaca fetal que simula una onda sinusoidal suave, con periodicidad de tres a cinco ciclos por minuto y una duración de, al menos, 20 minutos. Es un patrón muy poco frecuente cuyo mecanismo se cree que se produce en respuesta a la hipoxemia fetal moderada, a menudo secundaria a la anemia fetal. La anemia fetal puede ser debida a una hemorragia aguda o a un proceso crónico. Las causas de anemia fetal incluyen hemorragia feto-materna, hemorragia fetal iatrogénica, hemorragia fetal secundaria a rotura de vasa previa o desprendimiento de placenta, la aloinmunización y la infección por parvovirus. Se describen tres casos de anemia neonatal grave, secundarias a transfusión feto-materna, no diagnosticadas durante la gestación, que debutan con un registro con patrón sinusoidal atípico. Lo denominamos atípico, ya que no cumple los criterios estrictos de patrón sinusoidal, y visualmente son registros que podrían pasar inadvertidos, y no ser catalogados como tal, y sin embargo todos los casos se asociaron a cesáreas urgentes por riesgo de pérdida de bienestar fetal y anemias severas en los neonatos (AU)

A sinusoidal heart rate pattern simulates a smooth sine wave, with periodicity of three to five cycles per minute and lasting for at least 20 minutes. It is a very rare pattern whose mechanism is believed to be a response to a moderate fetal hypoxemia, often secondary to fetal anemia. Fetal anemia can be due to acute bleeding or a chronic process; causes include fetomaternal hemorrhage, iatrogenic fetal bleeding, fetal bleeding secondary to vasa previa or placental abruption, alloimmunization, and parvovirus infection. 3 cases of severe neonatal anemia secondary to fetal-maternal transfusion, undiagnosed during pregnancy, debuting with an atypical sinusoidal pattern are described. We call it atypical because it does not meet the strict criteria for sinusoidal pattern, and visually, this kind of fetal heart rate monitoring could pass unnoticed and not be classified as such, but all cases were associated with urgent cesarean for risk fetal and severe anemia in newborns (AU)

Diástasis traumática de pubis en gestante a término / Traumatic diastasis of pubic symphysis in a full-term pregnant

La diástasis traumática de la sínfisis del pubis durante la gestación es una complicación infrecuente aunque potencialmente grave para la madre y el feto que nos obliga a una vigilancia cuidadosa de la estabilidad hemodinámica de ambos y que precisa una actuación conjunta de obstetras y traumatólogos, en ocasiones emergente (AU)

The traumatic diastasis of pubic symphysis during the gestation is a rare although potentially serious complication for the mother and the fetus and that forces us to a careful monitoring of the hemodinámic stability of both and that it needs a joint performance by obstetricians and orthopaedic surgeons sometimes emergent (AU)