Antenatal corticosteroids in preterm small-for-gestational age infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to estimate the effect of antenatal corticosteroid administration on neonatal mortality and morbidity in preterm small-for-gestational age infants through a systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: A predefined, systematic search was conducted through Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, World Health Organization International Clinical Trial Registry Platform, and ClinicalTrials.gov yielding 5324 articles from 1970 to 2019. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Eligible studies compared neonatal morbidity and mortality among small-for-gestational age infants delivered preterm who received antenatal corticosteroids with those who did not. METHODS: The primary outcome was neonatal mortality. Secondary outcomes were respiratory distress syndrome, necrotizing enterocolitis, intraventricular hemorrhage and periventricular leukomalacia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia or chronic lung disease of prematurity, or neonatal sepsis. We assessed heterogeneity by means of Higgins I2 statistic and Cochran's Q test and calculated pooled odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals using random effects models. RESULTS: A total of 16 observational cohort and case-control studies published from 1995 to 2018 met the selection criteria for the systematic review and included 8989 preterm small-for-gestational age infants. Antenatal corticosteroid administration was explicitly reported among 8376 small-for-gestational age infants; 4631 (55.3%) received antenatal corticosteroids and 3741 (44.7%) did not. Of note, 13 studies including 6387 preterm small-for-gestational age infants were then included in the meta-analysis. Neonatal mortality was significantly lower among infants who received antenatal corticosteroids than those who did not (12 studies: 12.8% vs 15.1%; pooled odds ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.46-0.86), with significant heterogeneity between studies (I2=55.1%; P=.011). There was no significant difference in respiratory distress syndrome (12 studies: odds ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.69-1.15), necrotizing enterocolitis (7 studies: odds ratio, 0.93; 95% confidence interval, 0.70-1.22), intraventricular hemorrhage and periventricular leukomalacia (10 studies: odds ratio, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.56-1.20), bronchopulmonary dysplasia or chronic lung disease of prematurity (8 studies: odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval, 0.88-1.41), or neonatal sepsis (6 studies: odds ratio, 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.86-1.49). CONCLUSION: These data indicate that antenatal corticosteroid administration reduces neonatal mortality in small-for-gestational age infants delivered preterm, with no apparent effect on neonatal morbidity. This supports the use of antenatal corticosteroids to reduce neonatal mortality in pregnancies with small-for-gestational age infants at risk of preterm birth.

Association of abnormal first stage of labor duration and maternal and neonatal morbidity.

BACKGROUND: Contemporary guidelines for labor management do not characterize abnormal labor on the basis of maternal and/or neonatal morbidity. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association of abnormal duration of the first stage of term labor and the risk of maternal and neonatal morbidity. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of all consecutive women admitted for delivery at a single center at ≥37 weeks and 0 to 7 days of gestation with singleton, nonanomalous, vertex infants from 2010 to 2015, who reached 10 cm cervical dilation. Multivariable logistic regression compared odds ratios for maternal and neonatal outcomes among women above and below the 90th, 95th, and 97th percentiles for first stage of labor duration. Receiver operating characteristic curves estimated the association between first stage of labor duration and maternal morbidity. Maternal morbidity was a composite of maternal fever, hemorrhage, transfusion, or endomyometritis; prolonged second stage of labor duration; and third- or fourth-degree perineal laceration. Neonatal morbidity was a composite of hypothermic therapy, need for mechanical ventilation, respiratory distress syndrome, meconium aspiration syndrome, birth injury or trauma, and neonatal seizure or sepsis. RESULTS: Of 6823 women included in this study, 682 were anticipated to have first stage of labor duration above the 90th percentile cutoff point, which was associated with an increased risk of composite maternal morbidity, maternal fever, postpartum transfusion, prolonged second stage of labor duration, third- or fourth-degree perineal laceration, and cesarean or operative vaginal delivery (P≤.02) and an increased risk of composite neonatal morbidity, respiratory distress syndrome, need for mechanical ventilation, and neonatal sepsis (P≤.03). Composite maternal morbidity was 2.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.8-2.7), 1.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.4-2.4), and 1.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.3-2.5) times more likely to occur among women above the 90th, 95th, and 97th percentile, respectively, for first stage of labor duration from 4 to 10 cm. Composite neonatal morbidity was 2.6 (95% confidence interval, 2.1-3.2), 2.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.7-2.9), and 1.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.3-2.8) times more likely to occur among infants delivered by women above the 90th, 95th, and 97th percentiles for first stage of labor duration from 4 to 10 cm. Receiver operating characteristic curves among all women from 4 to 10 cm and 6 to 10 cm, including when stratified by parity and type of labor onset, had an area under the curve of 0.51 to 0.62 and 0.53 to 0.71 for maternal and neonatal morbidity, respectively. Thus, duration of labor has moderate predictive ability, at best, for composite maternal or neonatal morbidity. No curve demonstrated a clear point at which adverse maternal or neonatal outcomes increased that could be used to define abnormal labor. CONCLUSION: The benefit of expectantly managing a prolonged first stage of labor with duration above the 90th percentile in anticipation of vaginal delivery must be weighed against the increased risk of composite maternal and neonatal morbidity. Risks associated with performing cesarean delivery as an alternative management for women with prolonged first stage of labor duration must also be considered.

First stage of labor progression in women with large-for-gestational age infants.

BACKGROUND: Women with suspected large-for-gestational age fetuses have higher rates of dysfunctional labor and labor arrest diagnoses and, consequently, higher rates of cesarean deliveries. The identification of the factors that significantly affect labor progression of women with large-for-gestational age infants may better inform expected duration of labor for certain subgroups of this population. OBJECTIVE: Because the standards for the first stage of labor when large-for-gestational age is present have not been defined clearly, the present study aims to evaluate labor progress of women with large-for-gestational age infants who complete the first stage of labor after 3-cm cervical dilation. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients who were admitted for labor from 2004-2014 with a term vertex singleton who achieved 10-cm cervical dilation. Labor curves were constructed with repeated measures regression and were compared between patients who delivered large-for-gestational age infants (actual birthweight, >90th percentile for gestational age) and those who delivered appropriate-for-gestational age infants (actual birthweight, 10-90th percentile for gestational age). Interval-censored regression estimated median duration of labor after 3-cm cervical dilation stratified by actual infant birthweight and further stratified by parity (nulliparity vs multiparity), labor onset (spontaneous [augmented and not augmented] and induced labor), pregestational diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes mellitus status, and maternal body mass index (obese, ≥30 kg/m2 vs not obese, <30 kg/m2). Multivariate analysis adjusted for confounding factors that were identified by bivariate analysis. RESULTS: Among all 17,097 women who were included, 15,843 women (92.7%) had appropriate-for-gestational age infants; 1254 women (7.3%) had large-for-gestational age infants, of whom 387 (30.9%) were nulliparous; 464 women (37.0%) underwent induction of labor; 863 women (68.8%) were obese, and 158 women (12.6%) had diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes mellitus. Women with large-for-gestational age infants had a slower progression from 3- to 10-cm cervical dilation compared with those with appropriate-for-gestational age infants (median, 8.57 hours [5th, 95th percentile, 2.95, 24.86] vs 6.46 hours [5th, 95th percentile, 2.23, 18.74]; P<.01). In the large-for-gestational age group, dilation from 6-10 cm progressed slower in nulliparous compared with multiparous women (3.28 hours [5th, 95th percentile, 0.71, 15.16] vs 2.03 hours [5th, 95th percentile, 0.44, 9.39]; P<.01) and in obese compared with not obese women (2.36 hours [5th, 95th percentile, 0.51, 10.91] vs 1.79 hours [5th, 95th percentile, 0.39, 8.31]; P<.01). Labor curves did not differ between large-for-gestational age and appropriate-for-gestational age groups when stratified by labor onset (nonaugmented spontaneous labor vs induced labor) or the presence of diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSION: After 3-cm cervical dilation, the time required to reach the second stage of labor is greater in women with large-for-gestational age infants compared with those with appropriate-for-gestational age infants; these differences are most pronounced in nulliparous and obese women with large-for-gestational age infants in the active phase of labor (6-10 cm). Among women with large-for-gestational age infants, labor onset and presence of diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes mellitus have no apparent effect on the duration of the first stage of labor after 3-cm cervical dilation.

Perceived HIV risk as a predictor of sexual risk behaviors and discrimination among high-risk women.

HIV risk perception and discrimination are important determinants of HIV prevention among vulnerable populations. Using Detroit's 2016 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) Survey, we evaluated demographic variables, risk behaviors, and perception of HIV stigma and discrimination stratified by perceived HIV risk (high, medium, low) in a sample of high-risk women. Significant variables were identified using Pearson Chi-squared tests and one-way analysis of variance tests. Among 541 females surveyed, 93.0% were black and 87.7% lived in poverty. Women's poverty (p = .010), employment (p = .012), insurance (p = .024) and homelessness status (p < .001) were all significantly associated with their level of HIV risk perception. Among women with low HIV risk perception (76.7%), the majority did not know their partner's HIV status at last intercourse (68.7%, p = .007), had unprotected anal/vaginal sex in the past year (86.7%, p = .025), participated in sex exchange (63.4%, p < .001), and did not use condoms with a partner with HIV-unknown status (87.2%, p < .001). Half of the women agreed or strongly agreed most people would not be friends with someone with HIV (50.4%), and 46.3% agreed or strongly agreed most people would support PLWH to live or work where they want. Compared to women with low HIV risk perception, women with high perceived HIV risk were more likely to agree or strongly agree most people would discriminate against someone with HIV (87.3% vs. 76.8%) and that people who got HIV via sex exchange or drugs got what they deserve (46.6% vs. 25.8%). Women's perceived HIV risk was not significantly associated with these discriminatory attitudes. Despite multiple risk behaviors significantly associated with the level of perceived HIV risk in the sample, the NHBS survey demonstrates many women with high-risk behaviors still perceive themselves to be at low risk. Our findings highlight a complex interaction of risk perception, risk behaviors and stigma surrounding HIV in high-risk women.

Evaluation of patient- versus provider-collected vaginal swabs for microbiome analysis during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate if patient- and provider-collected vaginal swabs in pregnant women reflect similar bacterial community characteristics. Pregnant patients performed a self-collected vaginal swab, then underwent a provider-collected swab via speculum exam. DNA pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene V1V3 and V3V5 variable regions was performed. Relative abundance of taxa, alpha diversity, and beta diversity of patient- and provider-collected swabs were compared. RESULTS: Ninety-four vaginal swabs from 47 women were analyzed. On non-metric multi-dimensional scaling plots, paired patient- and provider-collected swabs clustered closely. The median Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.993 (interquartile range 0.951-0.999) for V1V3 and 0.987 (interquartile range 0.902-0.999) for V3V5. Among paired V1V3 and V3V5 sequences, 83.0% and 73.9% showed strong Pearson correlation (> 0.9), respectively, between patient- and provider-collected swabs; V1V3 and V3V5 sequences with weaker Pearson correlation (< 0.9) had correlation coefficients 0.57-0.89 and 0.49-0.89, respectively. No taxa were preferentially detected by sampling method, with relative abundance of taxa highly conserved. No significant difference in Shannon diversity for V1V3 (p = 0.22) and V3V5 (p = 0.11) sequences among paired samples was seen. We demonstrate that bacterial communities defined from patient- and provider-collected vaginal swabs in pregnant women are similar, validating utilization of patient-collected swabs for vaginal bacterial microbiome sampling during pregnancy.

Outcomes After Oncoplastic Breast-Conserving Surgery in Breast Cancer Patients: A Systematic Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Surgeons have increasingly performed breast-conserving surgery (BCS) utilizing oncoplastic techniques in place of standard lumpectomy for early-stage breast cancer. We assess oncologic outcomes after oncoplastic BCS for T1-T2 breast cancer. METHODS: A systematic literature review identified peer-reviewed articles in PubMed evaluating BCS with oncoplastic reconstruction. Selected studies reported on positive margin rate (PMR), re-excision rate (RR), conversion to mastectomy rate (CMR), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), local recurrence (LR), distant recurrence (DR), complication rate, and/or cosmetic outcomes. RESULTS: The search yielded 474 articles; 55 met the inclusion criteria and collectively evaluated 6011 patients with a mean age 54.6 years over a mean follow-up 50.5 months. T1 (43.8 %) and T2 (39.3 %) invasive ductal carcinoma were the most common tumor histopathologies. PMR, RR, and CMR were 10.8, 6.0, and 6.2 %, respectively, while OS, DFS, LR and DR were 95.0, 90.0, 3.2, and 8.7 %, respectively. Margin widths were heterogeneously defined in studies that included margin assessment. The PMR was not significantly different when positive margins were defined as tumor <10, <5, < 2, and <1 mm from ink margin, or tumor on ink (p = 0.162). Eleven studies reported specific margins for 1455 patients, of whom 143 (9.8 %) had positive margins, including 113 (7.8 %) with tumor on ink. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the largest comprehensive literature review to date on oncoplastic BCS. Our systematic review reveals high rates of OS and DFS with low LR, DR, PMR, RR, CMR and complication rates, thereby confirming the oncologic safety of this procedure in patients with T1-T2 invasive breast cancer.

Knowledge and Acceptability of Anal Cytology Screening Among Women.

OBJECTIVE: Medical providers have initiated anal cytology screening among women to detect anal neoplasia early. Lack of knowledge of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and anticipated screening discomfort may limit patient acceptance. This study investigates attitudes toward anal cytology screening among women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Women seen for gynecologic care at an urban university medical center were invited to complete an anonymous survey assessing their understanding of HPV and interest in anal cytology screening. Subjects reported the level of pain, discomfort, and embarrassment they expected from screening on a 100-mm visual analog scale. RESULTS: Four hundred four women with mean (SD) age 36 (13) years met criteria for participation. Three hundred thirty-five women reported their race: 52% were white and 36% were African American. Three hundred forty-eight women reported their ethnicities: 76% were Hispanic and 12% were Haitian. Twenty-two percent had never heard of HPV, 57% were not familiar with anal cytology screening, 67% acknowledged that screening was very helpful in detecting anal neoplasia early, and 28% were very interested in undergoing screening. Mean (SD) level of anticipated pain, discomfort, and embarrassment during screening was 62 (32), 68 (30), and 58 (34) mm, respectively. Level of familiarity with anal cytology screening (p < .001), belief in its utility in detecting anal neoplasia (p < .001), and level of anticipated pain (p = .004) were significant predictors of acceptability. CONCLUSIONS: Medical providers should improve counseling about anal cytology screening among at-risk women to familiarize them with the procedure, describe its role in detecting anal neoplasia, and address expectations surrounding pain to increase its acceptability.

Overall Survival, Disease-Free Survival, Local Recurrence, and Nipple-Areolar Recurrence in the Setting of Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) is an increasingly common procedure; however, concerns exist regarding its oncological safety due to the potential for residual breast tissue to harbor occult malignancy or future cancer. METHODS: A systematic literature review was performed. Studies with internal comparison arms evaluating therapeutic NSM versus skin-sparing mastectomy (SSM) and/or modified radical mastectomy (MRM) were included in a meta-analysis of overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and local recurrence (LR). Studies lacking comparison arms were only included in the systematic review to evaluate mean OS, DFS, LR, and nipple-areolar recurrence (NAR). RESULTS: The search yielded 851 articles. Twenty studies with 5594 patients met selection criteria. The meta-analysis included eight studies with comparison arms. Seven studies that compared OS found a 3.4% risk difference between NSM and MRM/SSM, five studies that compared DFS found a 9.6% risk difference between NSM and MRM/SSM, and eight studies that compared LR found a 0.4% risk difference between NSM and MRM/SSM. Risk differences for all outcomes were not statistically significant. The systematic review included all 20 studies and evaluated OS, DFS, LR, and NAR. Studies with follow-up intervals of <3 years, 3-5 years, and >5 years had mean OS of 97.2, 97.9, and 86.8%; DFS of 93.1, 92.3, and 76.1%; LR of 5.4, 1.4, and 11.4%; and NAR of 2.1, 1.0, and 3.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study did not detect adverse oncologic outcomes of NSM in carefully selected women with early-stage breast cancer. Use of prospective data registries, notably the Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy Registry, will add clarity to this important clinical question.