Zinc-α2-Glycoprotein (ZAG) is an adipokine with lipolytic action and is positively associated with adiponectin in adipose tissue. We hypothesize that ZAG may be related with hydrocarbonate metabolism disturbances observed in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The aim of this study was to analyze serum ZAG concentration and its relationship with carbohydrate ...

During pregnancy, the glucose levels vary according to the hormonal changes and the metabolic needs necessary to maintain fetal nutrition but strict glycemic control is essential to minimize the maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality of pregnancies complicated by diabetes. Although considered the "gold standard" for diagnosis, measurement of glucose ...

Multiple sclerosis is the most common chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system which preferentially affects females at childbearing age. For this reason, patients and treating physicians were frequently confronted with questions concerning family planning, pregnancy and birth. Preventive and personalized treatment approaches are considered, because topics as heredity, ...

Epidemiological investigations have shown that fetuses with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) are susceptible to adult metabolic syndrome. Clinical investigations and experiments have demonstrated that caffeine is a definite inducer of IUGR, as children who ingest caffeine-containing food or drinks are highly susceptible to adult obesity and hypertension. Our goals for ...

The effect of pregnancy on bone metabolism was investigated in healthy mares. Venous blood samples were collected 7 times from 19 multiparous mares starting at 20-weeks pre-parturition, continuing 6 times in 4-week intervals, including the week of parturition and one week after parturition. Serum concentrations of osteocalcin (OC) and carboxy-terminal ...

Epidemiological studies have suggested that metabolic programming begins during fetal life and adverse events in utero are a critical factor in the etiology of chronic diseases and overall health. While the underlying molecular mechanisms linking impaired fetal development to these adult diseases are being elucidated, little is known about how ...

[This corrects the article on p. e45188 in vol. 7.].

The facilities for neonatal screening, early diagnosis, and effective treatment of isovaleric acidaemia (IVA) have improved greatly over the past decades. Accordingly, IVA patients reach adolescence and may consider having children. The maintenance of a stable metabolic condition is a challenge to both the patients and their multidisciplinary team of ...

: Negative maternal and fetal consequences associated with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae during pregnancy make diagnosis essential. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend routine screening for sexually transmitted infections at the first prenatal visit, and third trimester repeat screening, specifically for C. trachomatis, is recommended for women ...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the Down syndrome detection and false-positive rates for second-trimester sonographic prenasal thickness (PT) measurement alone and in combination with other markers. Multivariate log Gaussian modeling was performed using numerical integration. Parameters for the PT distribution, in multiples of the normal gestation-specific median ...

This study was carried out to examine the performance of a contingent policy in first-trimester screening for trisomy 21, in which the estimated risk was first derived by a combination of maternal age, fetal nuchal translucency (NT) thickness, presence/absence of the nasal bone, blood flow in the ductus venosus or ...

To investigate women's attitudes to successive decisions possibly involved in Down syndrome screening (i.e. about ultrasound and biochemical screening, invasive testing, and termination of pregnancy) and to compare attitudes and actual decisions. Four hundred women were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire within 3 days postpartum. A hierarchical cluster analysis ...

In a previous discovery study, we identified seven potential screening markers for Down syndrome (DS). Here, we report on an extended study to validate the discriminative potential of these markers. Concentrations of the seven analytes were measured using bead-based multiplexed immunoassays in maternal serum from 27 DS pregnancies and 27 ...

Abstract Current screening for fetal aneuploidies relies on biochemical and ultrasound measurements, and the sensitivity and specificity needs to be improved to reduce the number of pregnant women subjected to invasive diagnostic procedures, such as amniocentesis. Proteomic technologies enable new strategies for discovering biomarkers from complex biological fluids in a ...

  Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) is a potentially devastating disease, which may lead to intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), with neurological damage as a consequence. In the absence of screening, FNAIT is only diagnosed after bleeding symptoms, with preventive options limited to a next pregnancy.   To estimate the population ...

To evaluate the extent of fetal structural abnormalities, other than neural tube and abdominal wall defects (AWDs), identified by California's Prenatal Screening Program. The Quad Marker Prenatal Screening records of 516,172 women were examined for screening interpretation and the diagnosis of structural abnormalities detected via follow-up. Women who were screen-positive ...

The objective of this report is to estimate the benefits of universal meconium screening for maternal drinking during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), including its most severe manifestation fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), is preventable and remains a public health tragedy. The incidences of FAS and FASD have been conservatively ...

Women with abnormal results of first trimester screening but with a normal karyotype are at risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes. A nuchal translucency of greater than 3.5 mm is associated with an increased risk of subsequent pregnancy loss, fetal infection, fetal heart abnormalities, and other structural abnormalities. Abnormal levels of ...

As first trimester screening has assumed an increasingly dominant role in the obstetric care of prospective parents, the need for genetic counseling has also increased. There are several challenges related to first trimester screening; foremost among them is the need to distinguish between screening and diagnosis. Additional challenges include the ...

The same principles for diagnosis and screening in singleton pregnancies apply to multiples. However, there can be significant differences in the safety and efficacy of all approaches with multiple gestations. This article deals with specific aspects of screening in multiple pregnancies.

Estimate steroid sulfatase deficiency (STSD) prevalence among California's racial/ethnic groups using data from a previous study focused on prenatal detection of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS). SLOS and STSD both have low maternal serum unconjugated estriol (uE3) levels. Prevalence was estimated using three steps: listing clinically identified cases; modeling STSD frequency at ...

The first trimester (11-13 +6 weeks) ultrasound examination is useful for several reasons: determination of an accurate date of confinement, diagnostic purposes, and screening for fetal defects. Nuchal translucency measurement combined with maternal serum markers (free b-human chorionic gonadotropin and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A) is the mainstay of first-trimester screening ...

Preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction are major contributors to perinatal mortality and morbidity. Accurate prediction is important for identifying those women who require more intensive monitoring, permitting earlier recognition and intervention, and allowing targeting of potential preventive measures to those at risk. Although different measures of placental dysfunction have been ...

Considerable advances have been made in identifying women whose pregnancies are at the greatest risk for fetal Down syndrome and other aneuploidies. Maternal serum tests and ultrasonography in either the first or second trimester provide effective prenatal screening. However, the most efficacious protocols are based on the combination of first- ...

The maternal serum levels of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) were reduced in hormonally stimulated pregnancies in the in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection groups (N=176; PAPP-A: 0.82) and in the entire assisted reproduction group (N=282; PAPP-A: 0.83) as compared with controls (N=24,783; PAPP-A: 0.94). However, the false-positive rate of ...

Domestic violence (DV) against women during pregnancy affects many women and unborn infants worldwide. Pregnancy presents a window of opportunity for health care providers to identify DV and provide appropriate intervention. The aim of this systematic review was to appraise the effectiveness of DV screening and interventions for women identified ...

Policy decisions on whether to implement screening programmes depend on whether the proposed programmes meet a set of criteria laid down by the World Health Organization. Screening for hyperglycaemia in pregnancy (HGP) does not meet all the criteria. However the case for screening has been strengthened by a number of ...

OBJECTIVES: To assess pregnant women's knowledge and understanding of first trimester prenatal screening (nuchal translucency, maternal serum free beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin and pregnancy-associated plasma-protein-A), to evaluate the impact of a new information booklet and investigate the effects of education and experiential knowledge of congenital disabilities on the perceived likelihood of ...

In the past two decades second-trimester maternal serum screening for Down syndrome has been the most common strategy for prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal aneuploidies. More recently, screening for and diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities have increasingly been performed in the first trimester. With improvements and technological advances in ultrasound, it is ...

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of targeted and universal screening for vasa praevia at 18-20 weeks of gestation in singleton and twin pregnancies. DESIGN: Cost-utility analysis based on a decision-analytic model comparing relevant strategies and life-long outcomes for mother and infant(s). SETTING: Ontario, Canada. POPULATION: A cohort of pregnant women ...

First-trimester aneuploidy screening is associated with very high detection rates for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. The clinical implications of early screening relate to prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities and important information obtained at screening. Early screening can change the rate of invasive prenatal diagnosis and the gestational age ...

Tuberculosis is known as the great masquerader and the manifestation of the disease can be vague and widespread. Worldwide, TB kills more women each year than any other infection and the greatest burden of disease occurs in those in the reproductive age. Screening strategies in pregnancy provides a unique opportunity ...

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the use of maternal serum ADAM12 as a second-trimester Down syndrome serum marker. METHODS: Samples from a total of 46 Down syndrome pregnancies and 184 unaffected singleton pregnancies matched for gestational age and maternal weight were retrieved from storage and measured for ADAM12; 35 false-positive pregnancies were ...

OBJECTIVE: To establish how different methods of estimating gestational age (GA) affect reliability of first-trimester screening for Down syndrome. METHODS: Retrospective single-center study of 100 women with a viable singleton pregnancy, who had first-trimester screening. We calculated multiples of the median (MoM) for maternal-serum free beta human chorionic gonadotropin (free ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between four defined adverse pregnancy outcomes and levels of first and second trimester maternal serum markers focusing in particular on how well combinations of markers predict these adverse outcomes. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of associations between first and second trimester serum markers and ...

Preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are major contributors to perinatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. Both are characterized by impaired trophoblastic invasion of the maternal spiral arteries and their conversion from narrow muscular vessels to wide non-muscular channels. Despite improvement in the understanding of the pathophysiology of these conditions, ability ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in pregnancy, if left undiagnosed and appropriately treated can lead to acute pyelonephritis in mothers and low birth weight in infants. Urine culture is the gold standard for diagnosing ASB. Unfortunately, urine culture is limitedly available. The present review aims at evaluating performance of ...

OBJECTIVE: To explore if the addition of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) to maternal factors and biophysical markers yields a significant improvement in the detection of hypertensive disorders before the clinical onset of disease. METHODS: Prospective screening study for early preeclampsia (PE), late PE and gestational hypertension (GH) in women attending ...

OBJECTIVE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) involves episodic nocturnal apneas. Using polysomnography, we examined the predictive capacity of screening questionnaires (Berlin) in pregnancy. Incorporating simultaneous fetal heart rate monitoring (FHM), we examined the association of maternal apnea with FHM abnormalities. STUDY DESIGN: We enrolled 100 pregnant women at 26-39 weeks of ...

Depression is very common during pregnancy and the postpartum period. At this time, there is insufficient evidence to support a firm recommendation for universal antepartum or postpartum screening. There are also insufficient data to recommend how often screening should be done. There are multiple depression screening tools available for use.

BACKGROUND: ADAM12 has been shown to be an efficient maternal serum marker for Down syndrome (DS) in the first trimester; but recent studies, using a second generation assay, have not confirmed these findings. We examined the efficiency of a second generation assay for ADAM12. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ADAM12 concentrations were ...

BACKGROUND: Prophylaxis with low-dose aspirin may reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia (PE) if introduced in first trimester. The performance of first trimester maternal serum screening for PE using free leptin index (fLI) and PAPP-A, where fLI = leptin/leptin soluble receptor was studied. METHODS: First trimester serum samples from 126 PE ...

To determine whether the standard deviation of nuchal translucency (NT) measurements has decreased over time and if so to revise the estimate and assess the effect of revising the estimate of the standard deviation on the performance of antenatal screening for Down's syndrome. Data from a routine antenatal screening programme ...

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common form of congenital malformation associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Antenatal diagnosis of life-threatening forms of CHD may help to improve survival and morbidity as well as allowing parental choice and preparation. The diagnosis of CHD during fetal life can be made with ...

We report two cases of malrotation with extremely different outcomes based on the availability and non-availability of antenatal scanning. The first one had a single third trimester ultrasound which detected malrotation and helped in saving baby's life whereas the second baby without antenatal screening succumbed to midgut volvulus and its ...

Aneuploidy in pregnancy is known to increase with advanced maternal age (AMA) and associate with repeated implantation failure (RIF), and repeated miscarriage (RM). Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) has been introduced into clinical practice, screening, and eliminating aneuploidy embryos, which can improve the chance of conceptions for infertility cases with poor ...

OBJECTIVES: To explore the efficacy of contingent triple-screening for Down syndrome (DS), that is, performing triple-screening in pregnant women with DS risks between 1/270 and 1/1000 at routine double-screening, in a Mainland Chinese population. METHODS: Maternal serum concentrations of alpha fetoprotein (AFP), free-beta human chorionic gonadotropin (free beta-hCG), and unconjugated ...

There is an urgent need to find consensus on screening, diagnosing and treating all degrees of dysglycemia that may occur during pregnancies in Brazil, considering that many cases of dysglycemia in pregnant women are currently not diagnosed, leading to maternal and fetal complications. For this reason the Brazilian Diabetes Society ...

The definitive diagnosis of fetal chromosomal abnormalities is only accomplished through tests that sample fetal tissue. These procedures--amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling and cordocentesis--are invasive and carry with them the risks of bleeding, rupture of membranes, and even pregnancy loss. Current recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists state ...

BACKGROUND: Placental growth hormone (PGH) is synthesised by the placenta, and its function is modulated by growth hormone binding protein (GHBP). The potential of PGH and GHBP as maternal serum screening markers for Down syndrome (DS) was examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Maternal serum concentrations of PGH and GHBP were determined ...