Transmission of streptomycin from maternal blood to the fetal circulation and the amniotic fluid

Brainstem Tuberculoma in Pregnancy

We report a case of a Somali refugee who presented in the second trimester of her first pregnancy with a four-week history of gradual right-sided sensomotoric hemisyndrome including facial palsy and left-sided paresis of the oculomotorius nerve causing drooping of the left eyelid and double vision. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed a solitary brainstem lesion. Upon detection of hilar lymphadenopathy on chest X-ray (CXR), the diagnosis of disseminated tuberculosis with involvement of the central nervous system was confirmed by PCR and treatment induced with rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. The patient had a steady neurological improvement and a favorable pregnancy outcome.

Tuberculosis in pregnant and postpartum women: epidemiology, management, and research gaps

Tuberculosis is most common during a woman's reproductive years and is a major cause of maternal-child mortality. National guidelines for screening and management vary widely owing to insufficient data. In this article, we review the available data on (1) the global burden of tuberculosis in women of reproductive age; (2) how pregnancy and the postpartum period affect the course of tuberculosis; (3) how to screen and diagnose pregnant and postpartum women for active and latent tuberculosis; (4) the management of active and latent tuberculosis in pregnancy and the postpartum period, including the safety of tuberculosis medications; and (5) infant outcomes. We also include data on HIV/tuberculosis coinfection and drug-resistant tuberculosis. Finally, we highlight research gaps in tuberculosis in pregnant and postpartum women.

When one drug affects 2 patients: a review of medication for the management of nonlabor-related pain, sedation, infection, and hypertension in the hospitalized pregnant patient

One of the most difficult challenges health care providers encounter is drug selection for pregnant patients. Drug selection can be complex as efficacy and maternal side effects must be weighed against potential risk to the embryo or fetus. Verification of an individual drug's fetal safety is limited as most evidence is deduced from epidemiologic, prospective cohort, or case-control studies. Medication selection for the pregnant inpatient is a particularly complex task as the illnesses and conditions that require hospitalization mandate different medications, and the risk versus benefit ratio can vary significantly compared to the outpatient setting. Some degree of acute pain is not uncommon among inpatients. Acetaminophen is generally considered the drug of choice in pregnancy for mild to moderate acute pain, while most opioids are thought to be safe for short-term use to manage moderate to severe pain. Providing sedation is particularly challenging as the few options available for the general population are further limited by either known increased risk of congenital malformations or very limited human pregnancy data. Propofol is the only agent recommended for continuous sedation, which has a Food and Drug Administration classification as a pregnancy category B medication. Treatment of infections in hospitalized patients requires balancing the microbiology profile against the fetal risk. Older antimicrobials proven generally safe include beta-lactams, and those with proven fetal risks include tetracyclines. However, little to no information regarding gestational use is available on the newer antimicrobials that are frequently employed to treat resistant infections more commonly found in the inpatient setting. Management of maternal blood pressure is based on the severity of blood pressure elevations and not the hypertensive classification. Agents generally considered safe to use in hypertensive pregnant patients include methyldopa, labetolol, and hydralazine, while angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, hydrochlorothiazide, and atenolol should be avoided.

Tuberculosis in pregnancy: a review

Tuberculosis (TB) was declared a public health emergency by WHO in 2005. The disease is a significant contributor to maternal mortality and is among the three leading causes of death among women aged 15-45 years in high burden areas. The exact incidence of tuberculosis in pregnancy, though not readily available, is expected to be as high as in the general population. Diagnosis of tuberculosis in pregnancy may be challenging, as the symptoms may initially be ascribed to the pregnancy, and the normal weight gain in pregnancy may temporarily mask the associated weight loss. Obstetric complications of TB include spontaneous abortion, small for date uterus, preterm labour, low birth weight, and increased neonatal mortality. Congenital TB though rare, is associated with high perinatal mortality. Rifampicin, INH and Ethambutol are the first line drugs while Pyrazinamide use in pregnancy is gaining popularity. Isoniazid preventive therapy is a WHO innovation aimed at reducing the infection in HIV positive pregnant women. Babies born to this mother should be commenced on INH prophylaxis for six months, after which they are vaccinated with BCG if they test negative. Successful control of TB demands improved living conditions, public enlightenment, primary prevention of HIV/AIDS and BCG vaccination.

A teratological study of aminoglycoside antibiotic treatment during pregnancy

The aim of this study was to investigate the teratogenicity of aminoglycoside antibiotics, such as parenteral gentamicin, streptomycin, tobramycin and oral neomycin, during pregnancy. Pair analysis of cases with congenital abnormalities and matched healthy controls was carried out. The setting was the population-based dataset of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities, 1980-96. In total, 38,151 pregnant women who had newborn infants without any defects (control group) and 22,865 pregnant women who had foetuses or newborns with congenital abnormalities were included in the study. 38 (0.16%) and 42 (0.11%) pregnant women in the case and control groups, respectively, were treated with the aminoglycosides studied. A teratogenic potential of gentamicin and neomycin was not indicated by a comparison of the occurrence of aminoglycoside antibiotic treatments in the total control group as referent with the figures of different congenital abnormality groups. In addition, the case-control pair analysis during the second-third months of pregnancy did not show a teratogenic risk of gentamicin and neomycin. The conclusion of this study is that treatment with parenteral gentamicin and oral neomycin during pregnancy presents no detectable teratogenic risk to the foetus, when restricted to structural developmental disturbances.

The maternal and fetal effects of tuberculosis therapy

Tuberculosis can cause significant morbidity in the pregnant woman, fetus, and members of the community. The first-line agents suggested by the CDC for use during pregnancy (isoniazid, rifampin, and ethambutol) seem to have minimal risk of induced congenital anomalies. Maternal morbidity associated with therapy does not seem increased above rates observed in the nonpregnant population. Education of the patient concerning the potential adverse side effects may decrease maternal morbidity. Therapy should be started as soon as the diagnosis of tuberculosis is confirmed (or when suspected in the HIV-infected woman) or after the first trimester in women younger than 35-years-old with recent TB tine test conversion. Monitoring for medication compliance during pregnancy is important to provide effective therapy and to decrease the development of resistant organisms.

Placental transfer of drugs administered to the mother

Drugs administered to mothers have the potential to cross the placenta and reach the fetus. Under particular circumstances, the comparison of the drug concentration in the maternal and fetal plasma may give an idea of the exposure of the fetus to the maternally administered drugs. In this review drugs are classified according to their type of transfer across the placenta. Several drugs rapidly cross the placenta and pharmacologically significant concentrations equilibrate in maternal and fetal plasma. Their transfer is termed 'complete'. Other drugs cross the placenta incompletely, and their concentrations are lower in the fetal than in maternal plasma. The majority of drugs fit into 1 of these 2 groups. A limited number of drugs reach greater concentrations in fetal than maternal plasma. It is said that these drugs have an 'exceeding' transfer. The impression prevails that suxamethonium chloride (succinylcholine chloride) and doxorubicin do not cross the placenta. However, a careful analysis of the literature suggests that this impression is wrong and that all drugs cross the placenta, although the extent transfer varies considerably. The following parameters were considered as possible factors determining the extent of placental transfer: (i) the molecular weight of the drug; (ii) the pKa (pH at which the drug is 50% ionised); and (iii) the extent of drug binding to the plasma protein. Drugs with molecular weights greater than 500D have an incomplete transfer across the human placenta. Strongly dissociated acid drug molecules should have an incomplete transfer, but this does not seem to be an absolute rule. For example, ampicillin and methicillin transfer completely and they are strongly dissociated at physiological pH. The extent of drug binding to plasma protein does not influence the type of drug transfer across the human placenta.