Risk factors for congenital anomalies in high risk pregnant women: A large study from South India

Trends in Termination of Pregnancy for Foetal Urological Abnormalities in England and Wales: a Cross-Sectional Study

The detection of developmental abnormalities in the foetus is considered an essential component of antenatal screening. Among the most frequently identified sonographically, and possibly one of the easiest recognised, are those affecting the urinary tract, with an incidence of 1-4 in 1000 pregnancies. As such, foetal urological abnormalities represent up to 30% of all prenatally diagnosed congenital anomalies. We analysed information recorded on the Health and Social Act 4 (HSA4) forms submitted to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for 2015 to 2019. There were 915 cases of termination of pregnancy for foetal urological anomaly between 2015 and 2019 in England and Wales, representing 0.09% of total abortions. There has been a steady increase in cases, from 186 in 2015 to 222 in 2018, followed by a more recent decline in 2019 to 172. All 915 cases were justified under Ground E of The Abortion Act 1967. Most terminations of pregnancy for foetal urological anomaly were carried out at 20 weeks gestation. Isolated urinary tract single diagnoses were the commonest, with megacystis being the most prevalent, followed by bilateral renal agenesis and bilateral cystic kidneys. Nearly a third of cases (32.2%) were performed in women aged 30-34 years, and almost 4/5 of women (78.7%) were of White ethnicity. Foetal urological abnormality is a complex issue affecting a significant minority of pregnant women. When severe abnormalities are detected by prenatal diagnosis, most women choose to terminate the pregnancy.

Anomalias congênitas na perspectiva dos determinantes sociais da saúde

Resumo: O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os fatores associados aos casos de anomalias congênitas na perspectiva dos determinantes sociais da saúde no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Trata-se de um estudo do tipo caso-controle, com todas as duplas de mães e nascidos vivos no período de 2012 a 2015 no estado, sendo considerado o total de nascidos vivos com anomalia congênita (5.250), e realizada amostragem aleatória de 21 mil sem anomalia congênita, conforme as informações das Declarações de Nascidos Vivos. Para análise estatística, foram realizados testes qui-quadrado e modelos de regressão logística com o SPSS. O modelo de Dahlgren & Whitehead foi utilizado como base para agrupamento e discussão das variáveis. No modelo multivariado, todas variáveis que se mostraram associadas significativamente com o desfecho foram no sentido de aumentar a chance de nascimentos com anomalia congênita: as mulheres pretas tiveram 20% mais chance, comparadas às brancas (OR = 1,20; valor de p = 0,013); ter mais de 40 anos aumentou em 97% a chance, quando comparadas às de 18 a 29 anos; as mulheres com menos de quatro anos de estudo apresentaram 50% mais chance, comparadas às mulheres com 12 anos ou mais de estudo (OR = 1,50; valor de p = 0,001); as mulheres que não realizaram nenhuma consulta de pré-natal tiveram 97% mais chance, comparadas às mulheres que realizaram sete ou mais consultas (OR = 1,97; valor de p = 0,001); e a ocorrência de abortos/perdas fetais aumentou em 17% a chance, em relação a nunca ter tido abortos/perdas fetais prévios (OR = 1,17; valor de p = 0,001). Os resultados trazem à discussão as desigualdades raciais e sociais, relacionando-as às iniquidades em saúde.

Analysis of the NANDA-I taxonomy "maternal-fetal dyad" concept in high-risk pregnancy: integrative review

OBJECTIVE

to analyze the NANDA-I taxonomy "maternal-fetal dyad" concept in high-risk pregnancy.

METHOD

an integrative literature review based on the Conceptual Analysis model proposed by Walker and Avant. It was conducted at PUBMED, CINAHL, SCOPUS, LILACS and SciELO, with the descriptors: Complications of pregnancy, Risk Factors, and Pregnancy, High-Risk (from 2008-2020).

RESULT

the sample consisted of 44 articles, which identified two attributes and 21 antecedents of the concept.

CONCLUSION

concept analysis allowed to identify the attributes and antecedents of the "maternal-fetal dyad" concept in high-risk pregnancy, in addition to raising and clarifying ideas. It was possible to identify 12 antecedents that are not included in NANDA-I as well as the need to review the definition of the diagnosis proposed by the taxonomy.

Epidemiological analysis of neonatal CHD near Petrochemical Complex

OBJECTIVE

To study the incidence, types, and characteristics of CHD in all live births delivered in Jinshan Hospital from 1 January, 2016 to 31 December, 2017, and to analyse the correlation between CHD and the distance between maternal residence and Shanghai Petrochemical Complex.

METHODS

All live births, delivered in Jinshan Hospital in 2016 and 2017, have received CHD screening and neonatal follow-up after delivery. For those both positive for CHD screening and negative for CHD screening but with heart murmur found during physical examination on neonatal follow-up after delivery, echocardiography was performed to confirm CHD diagnosis. All maternal residential addresses have been grouped for analysis according to the distance between maternal residence and Shanghai Petrochemical Complex.

RESULTS

There were 5544 live births in total, and a total of 79 children with CHD were confirmed by CHD screening and echocardiography, of which the types of diseases with high incidence, in descending order of incidence, are atrial septal defect (48/79), ventricular septal defect (25/79), patent ductus arteriosus (21/79), and pulmonary artery stenosis (9/79). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of CHD among the groups divided by the distance between maternal residence and Shanghai Petrochemical Complex. The incidence of neonatal CHD near Shanghai Petrochemical Complex is 1.42%.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of the children with CHD can be screened out through CHD screening and physical examination in neonatal period and early infancy stage. The distance between maternal residence and Shanghai Petrochemical Complex has no significant direct effect on the incidence of CHD in neonates near Shanghai Petrochemical Complex.

Development of A Machine Learning Algorithm to Classify Drugs Of Unknown Fetal Effect

Many drugs commonly prescribed during pregnancy lack a fetal safety recommendation - called FDA 'category C' drugs. This study aims to classify these drugs into harmful and safe categories using knowledge gained from chemoinformatics (i.e., pharmacological similarity with drugs of known fetal effect) and empirical data (i.e., derived from Electronic Health Records). Our fetal loss cohort contains 14,922 affected and 33,043 unaffected pregnancies and our congenital anomalies cohort contains 5,658 affected and 31,240 unaffected infants. We trained a random forest to classify drugs of unknown pregnancy class into harmful or safe categories, focusing on two distinct outcomes: fetal loss and congenital anomalies. Our models achieved an out-of-bag accuracy of 91% for fetal loss and 87% for congenital anomalies outperforming null models. Fifty-seven 'category C' medications were classified as harmful for fetal loss and eleven for congenital anomalies. This includes medications with documented harmful effects, including naproxen, ibuprofen and rubella live vaccine. We also identified several novel drugs, e.g., haloperidol, that increased the risk of fetal loss. Our approach provides important information on the harmfulness of 'category C' drugs. This is needed, as no FDA recommendation exists for these drugs' fetal safety.