Induction of labor with high- or low-dosage oral misoprostol-A Danish descriptive retrospective cohort study 2015-16.

INTRODUCTION: In Denmark, the rate of induced labor from 37 gestational weeks has increased by 108% from 12.4% in 2000 to 25.1% in 2012, and today more than 1 in 4 deliveries are induced. Standard procedure at North Zealand Hospital changed in 2016 from a dosage of 50 µg oral misoprostol 2-3 times daily, to 25 µg up to 8 times daily. Also, since 2016 healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies (primiparous and multiparous) have been offered induction as an outpatient procedure. This study aimed to compare the current low-dosage procedure (25 µg) with the former high-dosage procedure (50 µg) in terms of induction to delivery time, maternal and fetal outcomes, and risk of uterine hyperstimulation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from June 2015 to October 2016 were included. Comparable baseline, demographic, and obstetric data for women induced according to high-dosage or low-dosage protocols were retrieved from local medical files. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-squared tests, Kaplan-Meier survival estimates, and logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: The study included 816 induced deliveries. The high- and low-dosage groups differed in rates of plurality and place of induction. Induction to delivery times lasting longer than 72 hours were significantly decreased in the low-dosage group (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.48, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.27 to 0.86). Women in the low-dosage group also less often needed additional induction (P = 0.02), and the rate of uterine hyperstimulation was low irrespective of protocol (1% vs 3%, P = 0.16). There were no cases of uterine rupture in either group. The probability of vaginal delivery in the low-dosage group increased (adjusted hazard ratio 1.27, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.49), as did the risk of delivery with vacuum extraction (aOR 2.27, 95% CI 1.24 to 4.15), whereas delivery by cesarean section slightly decreased (aOR 0.89, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.33). The risk of meconium-stained liquor was nonsignificantly decreased (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.23). CONCLUSIONS: The low-dosage induction protocol was associated with favorable obstetric outcomes in terms of increased probability of vaginal delivery, but with higher risk of vacuum extraction. Protracted inductions and additional nonmedical interventions were reduced. There were no cases of uterine rupture. Statistically nonsignificant, the risk of uterine hyperstimulation was increased whereas the risk of meconium-stained liquor and of cesarean section was slightly decreased.

Early pregnancy reference intervals; 29 serum analytes from 4 to 12 weeks' gestation in naturally conceived and uncomplicated pregnancies resulting in live births.

Background Pregnancy introduces major physiological changes that also alter biochemical analytes. Maternal and perinatal health can be optimized by early intervention and therefore, pregnancy-specific reference intervals (RIs) for the local population are warranted. While the second and third trimester-specific changes are well described, the first trimester is less well characterized. We therefore wanted to facilitate early detection of abnormalities by generating first trimester reference values for 29 common analytes. Methods In a prospective early pregnancy (PEP) cohort (2016-2017), 203 pregnant women were recruited from 4 to 8 weeks' gestation. Consecutive blood samples were drawn every 2 weeks until an ongoing second trimester pregnancy (n = 164) or a miscarriage (n = 39) occurred. After exclusion of women with complicated pregnancies or deliveries (n = 42), 122 women were included. The serum samples collected at <6, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12 and >12 weeks' gestation were analyzed for 29 common analytes. Subsequently the RIs were calculated according to the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) recommendations (2.5-97.5th percentiles) and compared with the conventional RIs for non-pregnant women. Results Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), progesterone (P4), estradiol (E2), pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A), cancer antigen 125 (CA125), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), creatinine (CREA) and albumin (ALB) showed an early pregnancy-dependent change compared with conventional limits. For ALB the change was seen at 5.5 weeks' gestation. Conclusions We report gestational age-specific RIs available from the early part of the first trimester applicable to everyday clinical care of pregnant women. Well-known alterations of RIs seen in later trimesters are also observed in the first.

Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) as a biomarker of early pregnancy location and viability compared with hCG, progesterone and estradiol.

A circulating biomarker of early pregnancy outcome independent of ultrasonography and gestational age is a coveted goal. This study evaluated soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), a well-described marker of inflammation and immunological activation, for this purpose, and compared it with established early pregnancy biomarkers of the luteoplacental phase: progesterone, estradiol and hCG. We merged data from two prospective first trimester cohorts to conduct a case-control study comparing these analytes in women who had either a live birth, a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy. The ability to predict pregnancy location and viability was assessed by areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). Comparing women irrespective of gestational age with a live birth, miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy showed significantly lower suPAR values in the latter group (2.4 vs. 2.4 vs. 2.0 µg/L, p = 0.032, respectively), as were all other analytes. Before 6 weeks' gestation, suPAR was significantly inferior to progesterone, estradiol and hCG in pregnancy location and viability prediction (in 124 pregnancies, suPAR AUClocation = 0.69 [CI: 0.54-0.83] and AUCviability = 0.58 [CI: 0.48-0.69], while progesterone AUClocation = 0.95 [CI: 0.87-1.00] and AUCviability = 0.84 [CI: 0.75-0.92]). After 6 weeks' gestation, suPAR prediction improved but was inferior to hCG, progesterone and estradiol (in 188 pregnanices, suPAR AUClocation = 0.71 [CI: 0.63-0.78] and AUCviability = 0.70 [CI: 0.63-0.78] compared with hCG AUClocation = 0.96 [CI: 0.93-0.99] and AUCviability = 0.96 [CI: 0.93-0.98]). Collectively, suPAR is less useful as a predictor of early pregnancy outcome than hCG, progesterone and estradol.