Obstetrics

Hypertensive crisis of pregnancy must be treated with all urgency

The following happened approximately 27 years ago when I worked as an attending at a regional level 2 hospital in Puerto Rico. One afternoon I received a call from the emergency department that they had been managing a patient (G4P3) at 33 weeks of gestation for about 4 hours. The patient was consulted for hypertension when she went into a hypertensive encephalopathic coma. The patient was brought back to the birth center. Apresoline was given but did not bring the blood pressure down. Magnesium sulfate also was started at that time. I called a colleague from internal medicine and started to give nitroprusside.

Every time the patient’s blood pressure dropped from 120 mm Hg diastolic, she would become conscious and speak with us. As soon as her blood pressure went up, she would go into a coma. The patient was then transferred to a tertiary center in as stable a condition as possible. Cesarean delivery was performed, and the baby did not survive. The mother had an intracerebral hemorrhage. She was transferred to the supra-tertiary center in San Juan where she later passed away from complications of the hypertensive crisis. If the emergency physician had called me earlier, more could have been done.

This event is always fresh I my mind when I manage my patients in Ohio. Thank God for the newer medications we have available and the protocols to manage hypertensive crisis in pregnancy. I hope this experience heightens awareness of how deadly this condition can be.

David A. Rosado, MD
Celina, Ohio

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Hypertensive crisis of pregnancy must be treated with all urgency

The following happened approximately 27 years ago when I worked as an attending at a regional level 2 hospital in Puerto Rico. One afternoon I received a call from the emergency department that they had been managing a patient (G4P3) at 33 weeks of gestation for about 4 hours. The patient was consulted for hypertension when she went into a hypertensive encephalopathic coma. The patient was brought back to the birth center. Apresoline was given but did not bring the blood pressure down. Magnesium sulfate also was started at that time. I called a colleague from internal medicine and started to give nitroprusside.

Every time the patient’s blood pressure dropped from 120 mm Hg diastolic, she would become conscious and speak with us. As soon as her blood pressure went up, she would go into a coma. The patient was then transferred to a tertiary center in as stable a condition as possible. Cesarean delivery was performed, and the baby did not survive. The mother had an intracerebral hemorrhage. She was transferred to the supra-tertiary center in San Juan where she later passed away from complications of the hypertensive crisis. If the emergency physician had called me earlier, more could have been done.

This event is always fresh I my mind when I manage my patients in Ohio. Thank God for the newer medications we have available and the protocols to manage hypertensive crisis in pregnancy. I hope this experience heightens awareness of how deadly this condition can be.

David A. Rosado, MD
Celina, Ohio

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Hypertensive crisis of pregnancy must be treated with all urgency

The following happened approximately 27 years ago when I worked as an attending at a regional level 2 hospital in Puerto Rico. One afternoon I received a call from the emergency department that they had been managing a patient (G4P3) at 33 weeks of gestation for about 4 hours. The patient was consulted for hypertension when she went into a hypertensive encephalopathic coma. The patient was brought back to the birth center. Apresoline was given but did not bring the blood pressure down. Magnesium sulfate also was started at that time. I called a colleague from internal medicine and started to give nitroprusside.

Every time the patient’s blood pressure dropped from 120 mm Hg diastolic, she would become conscious and speak with us. As soon as her blood pressure went up, she would go into a coma. The patient was then transferred to a tertiary center in as stable a condition as possible. Cesarean delivery was performed, and the baby did not survive. The mother had an intracerebral hemorrhage. She was transferred to the supra-tertiary center in San Juan where she later passed away from complications of the hypertensive crisis. If the emergency physician had called me earlier, more could have been done.

This event is always fresh I my mind when I manage my patients in Ohio. Thank God for the newer medications we have available and the protocols to manage hypertensive crisis in pregnancy. I hope this experience heightens awareness of how deadly this condition can be.

David A. Rosado, MD
Celina, Ohio

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Singleton infants born to mothers who are subfertile or treated with assisted reproductive technology (ART) are at higher risk for multiple adverse health outcomes beyond prematurity, a recent retrospective study shows.

Risks of chromosomal abnormalities, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular and respiratory conditions were all increased, compared with infants born to fertile mothers, in analyses of neonatal outcomes stratified by gestational age.

This population-based study is among the first to show differences in adverse birth outcomes beyond preterm birth and, more specifically, by organ system conditions across gestational age categories, according to Sunah S. Hwang, MD, MPH, of the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and her coinvestigators.

“With this approach, we offer more detailed associations between maternal fertility and the receipt of treatment along the continuum of fetal organ development and subsequent infant health conditions,” Dr. Hwang and her coauthors wrote in Pediatrics.

The study, which included singleton infants of at least 23 weeks’ gestational age born during 2004-2010, was based on data from a Massachusetts clinical ART database (MOSART) that was linked with state vital records.

Out of 350,123 infants with birth hospitalization records in the study cohort, 336,705 were born to fertile women, while 8,375 were born to women treated with ART, and 5,403 were born to subfertile women.

After adjustment for key maternal and infant characteristics, infants born to subfertile or ART-treated women were more often preterm as compared with infants to fertile mothers. Adjusted odds ratios were 1.39 (95% confidence interval, 1.26-1.54) and 1.72 (95% CI, 1.60-1.85) for infants of subfertile and ART-treated women, respectively, Dr. Hwang and her coinvestigators reported.

Infants born to subfertile or ART-treated women were also more likely to have adverse respiratory, gastrointestinal, or nutritional outcomes, with adjusted ORs ranging from 1.12 to 1.18, they added in the report.

Looking specifically at outcomes stratified by gestational age, they found an increased risk of congenital malformations, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular or respiratory outcomes, with adjusted ORs from 1.30 to 2.61, in the data published in the journal.

By contrast, there were no differences in risks of neonatal mortality, length of hospitalization, low birth weight, or neurologic and hematologic abnormalities for infants of subfertile and ART-treated women, compared with fertile women, according to Dr. Hwang and her coauthors.

These results confirm results of some previous studies that suggested a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes among infants born as singletons, according to the study authors.

“Although it is clearly accepted that multiple gestation is a significant predictor of preterm birth and low birth weight, recent studies have also revealed that, even among singleton births, mothers with infertility without ART treatment along with those who do undergo ART treatment are at higher risk for preterm delivery,” they wrote.

The study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Authors said they had no financial relationships relevant to the study.

SOURCE: Hwang SS et al. Pediatrics. 2018 Aug;142(2):e20174069.

Singleton infants born to mothers who are subfertile or treated with assisted reproductive technology (ART) are at higher risk for multiple adverse health outcomes beyond prematurity, a recent retrospective study shows.

Risks of chromosomal abnormalities, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular and respiratory conditions were all increased, compared with infants born to fertile mothers, in analyses of neonatal outcomes stratified by gestational age.

This population-based study is among the first to show differences in adverse birth outcomes beyond preterm birth and, more specifically, by organ system conditions across gestational age categories, according to Sunah S. Hwang, MD, MPH, of the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and her coinvestigators.

“With this approach, we offer more detailed associations between maternal fertility and the receipt of treatment along the continuum of fetal organ development and subsequent infant health conditions,” Dr. Hwang and her coauthors wrote in Pediatrics.

The study, which included singleton infants of at least 23 weeks’ gestational age born during 2004-2010, was based on data from a Massachusetts clinical ART database (MOSART) that was linked with state vital records.

Out of 350,123 infants with birth hospitalization records in the study cohort, 336,705 were born to fertile women, while 8,375 were born to women treated with ART, and 5,403 were born to subfertile women.

After adjustment for key maternal and infant characteristics, infants born to subfertile or ART-treated women were more often preterm as compared with infants to fertile mothers. Adjusted odds ratios were 1.39 (95% confidence interval, 1.26-1.54) and 1.72 (95% CI, 1.60-1.85) for infants of subfertile and ART-treated women, respectively, Dr. Hwang and her coinvestigators reported.

Infants born to subfertile or ART-treated women were also more likely to have adverse respiratory, gastrointestinal, or nutritional outcomes, with adjusted ORs ranging from 1.12 to 1.18, they added in the report.

Looking specifically at outcomes stratified by gestational age, they found an increased risk of congenital malformations, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular or respiratory outcomes, with adjusted ORs from 1.30 to 2.61, in the data published in the journal.

By contrast, there were no differences in risks of neonatal mortality, length of hospitalization, low birth weight, or neurologic and hematologic abnormalities for infants of subfertile and ART-treated women, compared with fertile women, according to Dr. Hwang and her coauthors.

These results confirm results of some previous studies that suggested a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes among infants born as singletons, according to the study authors.

“Although it is clearly accepted that multiple gestation is a significant predictor of preterm birth and low birth weight, recent studies have also revealed that, even among singleton births, mothers with infertility without ART treatment along with those who do undergo ART treatment are at higher risk for preterm delivery,” they wrote.

The study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Authors said they had no financial relationships relevant to the study.

SOURCE: Hwang SS et al. Pediatrics. 2018 Aug;142(2):e20174069.

Singleton infants born to mothers who are subfertile or treated with assisted reproductive technology (ART) are at higher risk for multiple adverse health outcomes beyond prematurity, a recent retrospective study shows.

Risks of chromosomal abnormalities, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular and respiratory conditions were all increased, compared with infants born to fertile mothers, in analyses of neonatal outcomes stratified by gestational age.

This population-based study is among the first to show differences in adverse birth outcomes beyond preterm birth and, more specifically, by organ system conditions across gestational age categories, according to Sunah S. Hwang, MD, MPH, of the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and her coinvestigators.

“With this approach, we offer more detailed associations between maternal fertility and the receipt of treatment along the continuum of fetal organ development and subsequent infant health conditions,” Dr. Hwang and her coauthors wrote in Pediatrics.

The study, which included singleton infants of at least 23 weeks’ gestational age born during 2004-2010, was based on data from a Massachusetts clinical ART database (MOSART) that was linked with state vital records.

Out of 350,123 infants with birth hospitalization records in the study cohort, 336,705 were born to fertile women, while 8,375 were born to women treated with ART, and 5,403 were born to subfertile women.

After adjustment for key maternal and infant characteristics, infants born to subfertile or ART-treated women were more often preterm as compared with infants to fertile mothers. Adjusted odds ratios were 1.39 (95% confidence interval, 1.26-1.54) and 1.72 (95% CI, 1.60-1.85) for infants of subfertile and ART-treated women, respectively, Dr. Hwang and her coinvestigators reported.

Infants born to subfertile or ART-treated women were also more likely to have adverse respiratory, gastrointestinal, or nutritional outcomes, with adjusted ORs ranging from 1.12 to 1.18, they added in the report.

Looking specifically at outcomes stratified by gestational age, they found an increased risk of congenital malformations, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular or respiratory outcomes, with adjusted ORs from 1.30 to 2.61, in the data published in the journal.

By contrast, there were no differences in risks of neonatal mortality, length of hospitalization, low birth weight, or neurologic and hematologic abnormalities for infants of subfertile and ART-treated women, compared with fertile women, according to Dr. Hwang and her coauthors.

These results confirm results of some previous studies that suggested a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes among infants born as singletons, according to the study authors.

“Although it is clearly accepted that multiple gestation is a significant predictor of preterm birth and low birth weight, recent studies have also revealed that, even among singleton births, mothers with infertility without ART treatment along with those who do undergo ART treatment are at higher risk for preterm delivery,” they wrote.

The study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Authors said they had no financial relationships relevant to the study.

SOURCE: Hwang SS et al. Pediatrics. 2018 Aug;142(2):e20174069.

Continuous electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (EFM) is used in the vast majority of all labors in the United States. With the use of EFM categories and definitions from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the National Institutes of Health, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, clinicians can now better define and communicate tracing assessments. Except for reducing neonatal seizure activity, however, EFM use during labor has not been demonstrated to significantly improve fetal and neonatal outcomes, yet EFM is associated with an increase in cesarean deliveries and instrument-assisted vaginal births.¹

The negative predictive value of EFM for fetal hypoxia/acidosis is high, but its positive predictive value is only 30%, and the false-positive rate is as high as 60%.² Although a false-positive assessment may result in a potentially unnecessary operative vaginal or cesarean delivery, a falsely reassuring strip may produce devastating consequences in the newborn and, not infrequently, medical malpractice liability. One etiology associated with falsely reassuring assessments is that of EFM monitoring of the maternal heart rate and the failure to recognize the tracing as maternal.

In this article, I discuss the mechanisms and periods of labor that often are associated with the maternal heart rate masquerading as the fetal heart rate. I review common EFM patterns associated with the maternal heart rate so as to aid in recognizing the maternal heart rate. In addition, I provide 3 case scenarios that illustrate the simple yet critical steps that clinicians can take to remedy the situation. Being aware of the potential for a maternal heart rate recording, investigating the EFM signals, and correcting the monitoring can help prevent significant morbidity.

CASE 1 EFM shows seesaw decelerations and returns to baseline rate

A 29-year-old woman (G3P2) at 39 weeks’ gestation was admitted to the hospital with spontaneous labor. Continuous EFM external monitoring was initiated. After membranes spontaneously ruptured at 4 cm dilation, an epidural was placed. Throughout the active phase of labor, the fetus demonstrated intermittent mild variable decelerations, and the fetal heart rate baseline increased to 180 beats per minute (BPM). With complete dilation, the patient initiated pushing. During the first several pushes, the EFM demonstrated an initial heart rate deceleration, and a loss of signal, but the heart rate returned to a baseline rate of 150 BPM. With the patient’s continued pushing efforts, the EFM baseline increased to 180 BPM, with evidence of variable decelerations to a nadir of 120 BPM, although with some signal gaps (FIGURE 1, red arrow). The tracing then appeared to have a baseline of 120 BPM with variability or accelerations (FIGURE 1, green arrow) before shifting again to 170 to 180 BPM.

What was happening?

Why does the EFM record the maternal heart rate?

Most commonly, EFM recording of the maternal heart rate occurs during the second stage of labor. Early in labor, the normal fetal heart rate (110–160 BPM) typically exceeds the basal maternal heart rate. However, in the presence of chorioamnionitis and maternal fever or with the stress of maternal pushing, the maternal heart rate frequently approaches or exceeds that of the fetal heart rate. The maximum maternal heart rate can be estimated as 220 BPM minus the maternal age. Thus, the heart rate in a 20-year-old gravida may reach rates of 160 to 180 BPM, equivalent to 80% to 90% of her maximum heart rate during second-stage pushing.

The external Doppler fetal monitor, having a somewhat narrow acoustic window, may lose the focus on the fetal heart as a result of descent of the baby, the abdominal shape-altering effect of uterine contractions, and the patient’s pushing. During the second stage, the EFM may record the maternal heart rate from the uterine arteries. Although some clinicians claim to differentiate the maternal from the fetal heart rate by the “whooshing” maternal uterine artery signal as compared with the “thumping” fetal heart rate signal, this auditory assessment is unproven and likely unreliable.

CASE 1 Problem recognized and addressed

In this case, the obstetrician recognized that “slipping” from the fetal to the maternal heart rate recording occurred with the onset of maternal pushing. After the pushing ceased, the maternal heart rate slipped back to the fetal heart rate. With the next several contractions, only the maternal heart rate was recorded. A fetal scalp electrode was then placed, and fetal variable decelerations were recognized. In view of the category II EFM recording, a vacuum procedure was performed from +3 station and a female infant was delivered. She had Apgar scores of 6 and 8 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively, and she did well in the nursery.

Read what happened in Case 2 when the EFM demonstrated breaks in the tracing

CASE 2 EFM tracings belie the clinical situation

A 20-year-old woman (G1P0) presented for induction of labor at 41 weeks’ gestation. Continuous EFM recording was initiated, and the patient was given dinoprostone and, subsequently, oxytocin. Rupture of membranes at 3 cm demonstrated a small amount of fluid with thick meconium. The patient progressed to complete dilation and developed a temperature of 38.5°C; the EFM baseline increased to 180 BPM. Throughout the first hour of the second stage of labor, the EFM demonstrated breaks in the tracing and a heart rate of 130 to 150 BPM with each pushing effort (FIGURE 2A). The Doppler monitor was subsequently adjusted to focus on the fetal heart and repetitive late decelerations were observed (FIGURE 2B). An emergent cesarean delivery was performed. A depressed newborn male was delivered, with Apgar scores of 2 and 4 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively, and significant metabolic acidosis.

What happened?

Fetal versus maternal responses to pushing

The fetal variable deceleration pattern is well recognized by clinicians. As a result of umbilical cord occlusion (due to compression, stretching, or twisting of the cord), fetal variable decelerations have a typical pattern. An initial acceleration shoulder resulting from umbilical vein occlusion (due to reduced venous return) is followed by an umbilical artery occlusion–induced sharp deceleration. The relief of the occlusion allows the sharp return toward baseline with the secondary shoulder overshoot.

In some cases, partial umbilical cord occlusion that affects only the fetal umbilical vein may result in an acceleration, although these usually resolve or evolve into variable decelerations within 30 minutes. By contrast, the maternal heart rate typically increases with contractions and with maternal pushing efforts. Thus, a repetitive pattern of heart rate accelerations with each contraction should warn of a possible maternal heart rate recording.

How maternal heart rate responds to pushing. Maternal pushing is a Valsalva maneuver. Although there are 4 classic cardiovascular phases of Valsalva responses, the typical maternal pushing effort results in an increase in the maternal heart rate. With the common sequence of three 10-second pushes during each contraction, the maternal heart rate often exhibits 3 acceleration and deceleration responses. The maternal heart rate tracing looks similar to the shape of the Three Sisters mountain peaks in Oregon (FIGURE 3). Due to Valsalva physiology, the 3 peaks of the Sisters mirror the 3 uterine wave form peaks, although with a 5- to 10-second delay in the heart rate responses (mountain peaks) from the pushing efforts.

Pre- and postcontraction changes offer clues. Several classic findings aid in differentiating the maternal from the fetal heart rate. If the tracing is maternal, typically the heart rate gradually decreases following the end of the contraction/pushing and continues to decrease until the start of the next contraction/pushing, at which time it increases. During the push, the Three Sisters wave form, with the 5- to 10-second offset, should alert the clinician to possible maternal heart rate recordings. By contrast, the fetal heart rate variable deceleration typically increases following the end of the maternal contraction/pushing and is either stable or increases further (variable with slow recovery) prior to the next uterine contraction/pushing effort. These differences in the patterns of precontraction and postcontraction changes can be very valuable in differentiating periods of maternal versus fetal heart rate recordings.

With “slipping” between fetal and maternal recording, it is not uncommon to record fetal heart rate between contractions, slip to the maternal heart rate during the pushing effort, and return again to the fetal heart rate with the end of the contraction. When confounded with the potential for other EFM artifacts, including doubling of a low maternal or fetal heart rate, or halving of a tachycardic signal, it is not surprising that it is challenging to recognize an EFM maternal heart rate recording.

CASE 2 Check the monitor for accurate focus

A retrospective analysis of this case revealed that the maternal heart rate was recorded with each contraction throughout the second stage. The actual fetal heart rate pattern of decelerations was revealed with the refocusing of the Doppler monitor.

Read how subtle slipping manifested in the EFM tracing of Case 3

CASE 3 Low fetal heart rate and variability during contractions

A 22-year-old woman (G2P1) in spontaneous labor at term progressed to complete dilation. Fetal heart rate accelerations occurred for approximately 30 minutes. With the advent of pushing, the fetal heart rate showed a rate of 130 to 140 BPM and mild decelerations with each contraction (FIGURE 4A). As the second stage progressed, the tracing demonstrated an undulating baseline heart rate between 100 and 130 BPM with possible variability during contractions (FIGURE 4B). This pattern continued for an additional 60 minutes. At vaginal delivery, the ObGyn was surprised to deliver a depressed newborn with Apgar scores of 1 and 3 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively.

Slipping from the fetal to the maternal heart rate may be imperceptible

In contrast to the breaks in the tracings seen in Case 1 and Case 2, the EFM tracing in Case 3 appears continuous. Yet, slipping from the fetal to the maternal recording was occurring.

As seen in FIGURE 4C, the maternal heart rate with variability was recorded during pushing efforts, and the fetal heart rate was seen rising back toward a baseline between contractions. Note that the fetal heart rate did not reach a level baseline, but rather decelerated with the next contraction. The slipping to the maternal heart rate occurred without a perceptible break in the recording, making this tracing extremely difficult to interpret.

CASE 3 Be ever vigilant

The lack of recognition that the EFM recording had slipped to the maternal heart rate resulted in fetal and newborn hypoxia and acidosis, accounting for the infant’s low Apgar scores.

Read how using 3 steps can help you distinguish fetal from maternal heart rate patterns

Follow 3 steps to discern fetal vs maternal heart rate

These cases illustrate the difficulties in recognizing maternal heart rate patterns on the fetal monitor tracing. The 3 simple steps described below can aid in differentiating maternal from fetal heart rate patterns.

1 Be aware and alert

Recognize that EFM monitoring of the maternal heart rate may occur during periods of monitoring, particularly in second-stage labor. Often, the recorded tracing is a mix of fetal and maternal patterns. Remember that the maternal heart rate may increase markedly during the second stage and rise even higher during pushing efforts. When presented with a tracing that ostensibly represents the fetus, it may be challenging for the clinician to question that assumption. Thus, be aware that tracings may not represent what they seem to be.

Often, clinicians view only the 10-minute portion of the tracing displayed on the monitor screen. I recommend, however, that clinicians review the tracing over the past 30 to 60 minutes, or since their last EFM assessment, for an understanding of the recent fetal baseline heart rate and decelerations.

2 Investigate

Although it is sometimes challenging to recognize EFM maternal heart rate recordings, this is relatively easy to investigate. Even without a pulse oximeter in place, carefully examine the EFM recording for maternal signs to determine if the maternal heart rate is within the range of the recording. You can confirm that the recording is maternal through 1 of 3 easy measures:

• First, check the maternal radial pulse and correlate it with the heart rate baseline.
• Second, place a maternal electrocardiographic (EKG) heart rate monitor.
• Last, and often the simplest approach for continuous tracings, place a finger pulse oximeter to provide a continuous maternal pulse reading. Should the maternal heart rate superimpose on the EFM recording, maternal patterns are likely being detected. However, since the pulse oximeter and EFM Doppler devices use different technologies, they will provide similar—but not precisely identical—heart rate numerical readings if both are assessing the maternal heart rate. In that case, take steps to assure that the EFM truly is recording the fetal heart rate.

3 Treat and correct

If the EFM is recording a maternal signal or if a significant question remains, place a fetal scalp electrode (unless contraindicated), as this may likely occur during the second stage. Alternatively, place a maternal surface fetal EKG monitor, or use ultrasonography to visually assess the fetal heart rate in real time.

Key point summary

The use of a maternal finger pulse oximeter, combined with a careful assessment of the EFM tracing, and/or a fetal scalp electrode are appropriate measures for confirming a fetal heart rate recording.

The 3 steps described (be aware and alert, investigate, treat and correct) can help you effectively monitor the fetal heart rate and avoid the potentially dangerous outcomes that might occur when the maternal heart rate masquerades as the fetal heart rate.

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Continuous electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (EFM) is used in the vast majority of all labors in the United States. With the use of EFM categories and definitions from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the National Institutes of Health, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, clinicians can now better define and communicate tracing assessments. Except for reducing neonatal seizure activity, however, EFM use during labor has not been demonstrated to significantly improve fetal and neonatal outcomes, yet EFM is associated with an increase in cesarean deliveries and instrument-assisted vaginal births.¹

The negative predictive value of EFM for fetal hypoxia/acidosis is high, but its positive predictive value is only 30%, and the false-positive rate is as high as 60%.² Although a false-positive assessment may result in a potentially unnecessary operative vaginal or cesarean delivery, a falsely reassuring strip may produce devastating consequences in the newborn and, not infrequently, medical malpractice liability. One etiology associated with falsely reassuring assessments is that of EFM monitoring of the maternal heart rate and the failure to recognize the tracing as maternal.

In this article, I discuss the mechanisms and periods of labor that often are associated with the maternal heart rate masquerading as the fetal heart rate. I review common EFM patterns associated with the maternal heart rate so as to aid in recognizing the maternal heart rate. In addition, I provide 3 case scenarios that illustrate the simple yet critical steps that clinicians can take to remedy the situation. Being aware of the potential for a maternal heart rate recording, investigating the EFM signals, and correcting the monitoring can help prevent significant morbidity.

CASE 1 EFM shows seesaw decelerations and returns to baseline rate

A 29-year-old woman (G3P2) at 39 weeks’ gestation was admitted to the hospital with spontaneous labor. Continuous EFM external monitoring was initiated. After membranes spontaneously ruptured at 4 cm dilation, an epidural was placed. Throughout the active phase of labor, the fetus demonstrated intermittent mild variable decelerations, and the fetal heart rate baseline increased to 180 beats per minute (BPM). With complete dilation, the patient initiated pushing. During the first several pushes, the EFM demonstrated an initial heart rate deceleration, and a loss of signal, but the heart rate returned to a baseline rate of 150 BPM. With the patient’s continued pushing efforts, the EFM baseline increased to 180 BPM, with evidence of variable decelerations to a nadir of 120 BPM, although with some signal gaps (FIGURE 1, red arrow). The tracing then appeared to have a baseline of 120 BPM with variability or accelerations (FIGURE 1, green arrow) before shifting again to 170 to 180 BPM.

What was happening?

Why does the EFM record the maternal heart rate?

Most commonly, EFM recording of the maternal heart rate occurs during the second stage of labor. Early in labor, the normal fetal heart rate (110–160 BPM) typically exceeds the basal maternal heart rate. However, in the presence of chorioamnionitis and maternal fever or with the stress of maternal pushing, the maternal heart rate frequently approaches or exceeds that of the fetal heart rate. The maximum maternal heart rate can be estimated as 220 BPM minus the maternal age. Thus, the heart rate in a 20-year-old gravida may reach rates of 160 to 180 BPM, equivalent to 80% to 90% of her maximum heart rate during second-stage pushing.

The external Doppler fetal monitor, having a somewhat narrow acoustic window, may lose the focus on the fetal heart as a result of descent of the baby, the abdominal shape-altering effect of uterine contractions, and the patient’s pushing. During the second stage, the EFM may record the maternal heart rate from the uterine arteries. Although some clinicians claim to differentiate the maternal from the fetal heart rate by the “whooshing” maternal uterine artery signal as compared with the “thumping” fetal heart rate signal, this auditory assessment is unproven and likely unreliable.

CASE 1 Problem recognized and addressed

In this case, the obstetrician recognized that “slipping” from the fetal to the maternal heart rate recording occurred with the onset of maternal pushing. After the pushing ceased, the maternal heart rate slipped back to the fetal heart rate. With the next several contractions, only the maternal heart rate was recorded. A fetal scalp electrode was then placed, and fetal variable decelerations were recognized. In view of the category II EFM recording, a vacuum procedure was performed from +3 station and a female infant was delivered. She had Apgar scores of 6 and 8 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively, and she did well in the nursery.

Read what happened in Case 2 when the EFM demonstrated breaks in the tracing

CASE 2 EFM tracings belie the clinical situation

A 20-year-old woman (G1P0) presented for induction of labor at 41 weeks’ gestation. Continuous EFM recording was initiated, and the patient was given dinoprostone and, subsequently, oxytocin. Rupture of membranes at 3 cm demonstrated a small amount of fluid with thick meconium. The patient progressed to complete dilation and developed a temperature of 38.5°C; the EFM baseline increased to 180 BPM. Throughout the first hour of the second stage of labor, the EFM demonstrated breaks in the tracing and a heart rate of 130 to 150 BPM with each pushing effort (FIGURE 2A). The Doppler monitor was subsequently adjusted to focus on the fetal heart and repetitive late decelerations were observed (FIGURE 2B). An emergent cesarean delivery was performed. A depressed newborn male was delivered, with Apgar scores of 2 and 4 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively, and significant metabolic acidosis.

What happened?

Fetal versus maternal responses to pushing

The fetal variable deceleration pattern is well recognized by clinicians. As a result of umbilical cord occlusion (due to compression, stretching, or twisting of the cord), fetal variable decelerations have a typical pattern. An initial acceleration shoulder resulting from umbilical vein occlusion (due to reduced venous return) is followed by an umbilical artery occlusion–induced sharp deceleration. The relief of the occlusion allows the sharp return toward baseline with the secondary shoulder overshoot.

In some cases, partial umbilical cord occlusion that affects only the fetal umbilical vein may result in an acceleration, although these usually resolve or evolve into variable decelerations within 30 minutes. By contrast, the maternal heart rate typically increases with contractions and with maternal pushing efforts. Thus, a repetitive pattern of heart rate accelerations with each contraction should warn of a possible maternal heart rate recording.

How maternal heart rate responds to pushing. Maternal pushing is a Valsalva maneuver. Although there are 4 classic cardiovascular phases of Valsalva responses, the typical maternal pushing effort results in an increase in the maternal heart rate. With the common sequence of three 10-second pushes during each contraction, the maternal heart rate often exhibits 3 acceleration and deceleration responses. The maternal heart rate tracing looks similar to the shape of the Three Sisters mountain peaks in Oregon (FIGURE 3). Due to Valsalva physiology, the 3 peaks of the Sisters mirror the 3 uterine wave form peaks, although with a 5- to 10-second delay in the heart rate responses (mountain peaks) from the pushing efforts.

Pre- and postcontraction changes offer clues. Several classic findings aid in differentiating the maternal from the fetal heart rate. If the tracing is maternal, typically the heart rate gradually decreases following the end of the contraction/pushing and continues to decrease until the start of the next contraction/pushing, at which time it increases. During the push, the Three Sisters wave form, with the 5- to 10-second offset, should alert the clinician to possible maternal heart rate recordings. By contrast, the fetal heart rate variable deceleration typically increases following the end of the maternal contraction/pushing and is either stable or increases further (variable with slow recovery) prior to the next uterine contraction/pushing effort. These differences in the patterns of precontraction and postcontraction changes can be very valuable in differentiating periods of maternal versus fetal heart rate recordings.

With “slipping” between fetal and maternal recording, it is not uncommon to record fetal heart rate between contractions, slip to the maternal heart rate during the pushing effort, and return again to the fetal heart rate with the end of the contraction. When confounded with the potential for other EFM artifacts, including doubling of a low maternal or fetal heart rate, or halving of a tachycardic signal, it is not surprising that it is challenging to recognize an EFM maternal heart rate recording.

CASE 2 Check the monitor for accurate focus

A retrospective analysis of this case revealed that the maternal heart rate was recorded with each contraction throughout the second stage. The actual fetal heart rate pattern of decelerations was revealed with the refocusing of the Doppler monitor.

Read how subtle slipping manifested in the EFM tracing of Case 3

CASE 3 Low fetal heart rate and variability during contractions

A 22-year-old woman (G2P1) in spontaneous labor at term progressed to complete dilation. Fetal heart rate accelerations occurred for approximately 30 minutes. With the advent of pushing, the fetal heart rate showed a rate of 130 to 140 BPM and mild decelerations with each contraction (FIGURE 4A). As the second stage progressed, the tracing demonstrated an undulating baseline heart rate between 100 and 130 BPM with possible variability during contractions (FIGURE 4B). This pattern continued for an additional 60 minutes. At vaginal delivery, the ObGyn was surprised to deliver a depressed newborn with Apgar scores of 1 and 3 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively.

Slipping from the fetal to the maternal heart rate may be imperceptible

In contrast to the breaks in the tracings seen in Case 1 and Case 2, the EFM tracing in Case 3 appears continuous. Yet, slipping from the fetal to the maternal recording was occurring.

As seen in FIGURE 4C, the maternal heart rate with variability was recorded during pushing efforts, and the fetal heart rate was seen rising back toward a baseline between contractions. Note that the fetal heart rate did not reach a level baseline, but rather decelerated with the next contraction. The slipping to the maternal heart rate occurred without a perceptible break in the recording, making this tracing extremely difficult to interpret.

CASE 3 Be ever vigilant

The lack of recognition that the EFM recording had slipped to the maternal heart rate resulted in fetal and newborn hypoxia and acidosis, accounting for the infant’s low Apgar scores.

Read how using 3 steps can help you distinguish fetal from maternal heart rate patterns

Follow 3 steps to discern fetal vs maternal heart rate

These cases illustrate the difficulties in recognizing maternal heart rate patterns on the fetal monitor tracing. The 3 simple steps described below can aid in differentiating maternal from fetal heart rate patterns.

1 Be aware and alert

Recognize that EFM monitoring of the maternal heart rate may occur during periods of monitoring, particularly in second-stage labor. Often, the recorded tracing is a mix of fetal and maternal patterns. Remember that the maternal heart rate may increase markedly during the second stage and rise even higher during pushing efforts. When presented with a tracing that ostensibly represents the fetus, it may be challenging for the clinician to question that assumption. Thus, be aware that tracings may not represent what they seem to be.

Often, clinicians view only the 10-minute portion of the tracing displayed on the monitor screen. I recommend, however, that clinicians review the tracing over the past 30 to 60 minutes, or since their last EFM assessment, for an understanding of the recent fetal baseline heart rate and decelerations.

2 Investigate

Although it is sometimes challenging to recognize EFM maternal heart rate recordings, this is relatively easy to investigate. Even without a pulse oximeter in place, carefully examine the EFM recording for maternal signs to determine if the maternal heart rate is within the range of the recording. You can confirm that the recording is maternal through 1 of 3 easy measures:

• First, check the maternal radial pulse and correlate it with the heart rate baseline.
• Second, place a maternal electrocardiographic (EKG) heart rate monitor.
• Last, and often the simplest approach for continuous tracings, place a finger pulse oximeter to provide a continuous maternal pulse reading. Should the maternal heart rate superimpose on the EFM recording, maternal patterns are likely being detected. However, since the pulse oximeter and EFM Doppler devices use different technologies, they will provide similar—but not precisely identical—heart rate numerical readings if both are assessing the maternal heart rate. In that case, take steps to assure that the EFM truly is recording the fetal heart rate.

3 Treat and correct

If the EFM is recording a maternal signal or if a significant question remains, place a fetal scalp electrode (unless contraindicated), as this may likely occur during the second stage. Alternatively, place a maternal surface fetal EKG monitor, or use ultrasonography to visually assess the fetal heart rate in real time.

Key point summary

The use of a maternal finger pulse oximeter, combined with a careful assessment of the EFM tracing, and/or a fetal scalp electrode are appropriate measures for confirming a fetal heart rate recording.

The 3 steps described (be aware and alert, investigate, treat and correct) can help you effectively monitor the fetal heart rate and avoid the potentially dangerous outcomes that might occur when the maternal heart rate masquerades as the fetal heart rate.

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Continuous electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (EFM) is used in the vast majority of all labors in the United States. With the use of EFM categories and definitions from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the National Institutes of Health, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, clinicians can now better define and communicate tracing assessments. Except for reducing neonatal seizure activity, however, EFM use during labor has not been demonstrated to significantly improve fetal and neonatal outcomes, yet EFM is associated with an increase in cesarean deliveries and instrument-assisted vaginal births.¹

The negative predictive value of EFM for fetal hypoxia/acidosis is high, but its positive predictive value is only 30%, and the false-positive rate is as high as 60%.² Although a false-positive assessment may result in a potentially unnecessary operative vaginal or cesarean delivery, a falsely reassuring strip may produce devastating consequences in the newborn and, not infrequently, medical malpractice liability. One etiology associated with falsely reassuring assessments is that of EFM monitoring of the maternal heart rate and the failure to recognize the tracing as maternal.

In this article, I discuss the mechanisms and periods of labor that often are associated with the maternal heart rate masquerading as the fetal heart rate. I review common EFM patterns associated with the maternal heart rate so as to aid in recognizing the maternal heart rate. In addition, I provide 3 case scenarios that illustrate the simple yet critical steps that clinicians can take to remedy the situation. Being aware of the potential for a maternal heart rate recording, investigating the EFM signals, and correcting the monitoring can help prevent significant morbidity.

CASE 1 EFM shows seesaw decelerations and returns to baseline rate

A 29-year-old woman (G3P2) at 39 weeks’ gestation was admitted to the hospital with spontaneous labor. Continuous EFM external monitoring was initiated. After membranes spontaneously ruptured at 4 cm dilation, an epidural was placed. Throughout the active phase of labor, the fetus demonstrated intermittent mild variable decelerations, and the fetal heart rate baseline increased to 180 beats per minute (BPM). With complete dilation, the patient initiated pushing. During the first several pushes, the EFM demonstrated an initial heart rate deceleration, and a loss of signal, but the heart rate returned to a baseline rate of 150 BPM. With the patient’s continued pushing efforts, the EFM baseline increased to 180 BPM, with evidence of variable decelerations to a nadir of 120 BPM, although with some signal gaps (FIGURE 1, red arrow). The tracing then appeared to have a baseline of 120 BPM with variability or accelerations (FIGURE 1, green arrow) before shifting again to 170 to 180 BPM.

What was happening?

Why does the EFM record the maternal heart rate?

Most commonly, EFM recording of the maternal heart rate occurs during the second stage of labor. Early in labor, the normal fetal heart rate (110–160 BPM) typically exceeds the basal maternal heart rate. However, in the presence of chorioamnionitis and maternal fever or with the stress of maternal pushing, the maternal heart rate frequently approaches or exceeds that of the fetal heart rate. The maximum maternal heart rate can be estimated as 220 BPM minus the maternal age. Thus, the heart rate in a 20-year-old gravida may reach rates of 160 to 180 BPM, equivalent to 80% to 90% of her maximum heart rate during second-stage pushing.

The external Doppler fetal monitor, having a somewhat narrow acoustic window, may lose the focus on the fetal heart as a result of descent of the baby, the abdominal shape-altering effect of uterine contractions, and the patient’s pushing. During the second stage, the EFM may record the maternal heart rate from the uterine arteries. Although some clinicians claim to differentiate the maternal from the fetal heart rate by the “whooshing” maternal uterine artery signal as compared with the “thumping” fetal heart rate signal, this auditory assessment is unproven and likely unreliable.

CASE 1 Problem recognized and addressed

In this case, the obstetrician recognized that “slipping” from the fetal to the maternal heart rate recording occurred with the onset of maternal pushing. After the pushing ceased, the maternal heart rate slipped back to the fetal heart rate. With the next several contractions, only the maternal heart rate was recorded. A fetal scalp electrode was then placed, and fetal variable decelerations were recognized. In view of the category II EFM recording, a vacuum procedure was performed from +3 station and a female infant was delivered. She had Apgar scores of 6 and 8 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively, and she did well in the nursery.

Read what happened in Case 2 when the EFM demonstrated breaks in the tracing

CASE 2 EFM tracings belie the clinical situation

A 20-year-old woman (G1P0) presented for induction of labor at 41 weeks’ gestation. Continuous EFM recording was initiated, and the patient was given dinoprostone and, subsequently, oxytocin. Rupture of membranes at 3 cm demonstrated a small amount of fluid with thick meconium. The patient progressed to complete dilation and developed a temperature of 38.5°C; the EFM baseline increased to 180 BPM. Throughout the first hour of the second stage of labor, the EFM demonstrated breaks in the tracing and a heart rate of 130 to 150 BPM with each pushing effort (FIGURE 2A). The Doppler monitor was subsequently adjusted to focus on the fetal heart and repetitive late decelerations were observed (FIGURE 2B). An emergent cesarean delivery was performed. A depressed newborn male was delivered, with Apgar scores of 2 and 4 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively, and significant metabolic acidosis.

What happened?

Fetal versus maternal responses to pushing

The fetal variable deceleration pattern is well recognized by clinicians. As a result of umbilical cord occlusion (due to compression, stretching, or twisting of the cord), fetal variable decelerations have a typical pattern. An initial acceleration shoulder resulting from umbilical vein occlusion (due to reduced venous return) is followed by an umbilical artery occlusion–induced sharp deceleration. The relief of the occlusion allows the sharp return toward baseline with the secondary shoulder overshoot.

In some cases, partial umbilical cord occlusion that affects only the fetal umbilical vein may result in an acceleration, although these usually resolve or evolve into variable decelerations within 30 minutes. By contrast, the maternal heart rate typically increases with contractions and with maternal pushing efforts. Thus, a repetitive pattern of heart rate accelerations with each contraction should warn of a possible maternal heart rate recording.

How maternal heart rate responds to pushing. Maternal pushing is a Valsalva maneuver. Although there are 4 classic cardiovascular phases of Valsalva responses, the typical maternal pushing effort results in an increase in the maternal heart rate. With the common sequence of three 10-second pushes during each contraction, the maternal heart rate often exhibits 3 acceleration and deceleration responses. The maternal heart rate tracing looks similar to the shape of the Three Sisters mountain peaks in Oregon (FIGURE 3). Due to Valsalva physiology, the 3 peaks of the Sisters mirror the 3 uterine wave form peaks, although with a 5- to 10-second delay in the heart rate responses (mountain peaks) from the pushing efforts.

Pre- and postcontraction changes offer clues. Several classic findings aid in differentiating the maternal from the fetal heart rate. If the tracing is maternal, typically the heart rate gradually decreases following the end of the contraction/pushing and continues to decrease until the start of the next contraction/pushing, at which time it increases. During the push, the Three Sisters wave form, with the 5- to 10-second offset, should alert the clinician to possible maternal heart rate recordings. By contrast, the fetal heart rate variable deceleration typically increases following the end of the maternal contraction/pushing and is either stable or increases further (variable with slow recovery) prior to the next uterine contraction/pushing effort. These differences in the patterns of precontraction and postcontraction changes can be very valuable in differentiating periods of maternal versus fetal heart rate recordings.

With “slipping” between fetal and maternal recording, it is not uncommon to record fetal heart rate between contractions, slip to the maternal heart rate during the pushing effort, and return again to the fetal heart rate with the end of the contraction. When confounded with the potential for other EFM artifacts, including doubling of a low maternal or fetal heart rate, or halving of a tachycardic signal, it is not surprising that it is challenging to recognize an EFM maternal heart rate recording.

CASE 2 Check the monitor for accurate focus

A retrospective analysis of this case revealed that the maternal heart rate was recorded with each contraction throughout the second stage. The actual fetal heart rate pattern of decelerations was revealed with the refocusing of the Doppler monitor.

Read how subtle slipping manifested in the EFM tracing of Case 3

CASE 3 Low fetal heart rate and variability during contractions

A 22-year-old woman (G2P1) in spontaneous labor at term progressed to complete dilation. Fetal heart rate accelerations occurred for approximately 30 minutes. With the advent of pushing, the fetal heart rate showed a rate of 130 to 140 BPM and mild decelerations with each contraction (FIGURE 4A). As the second stage progressed, the tracing demonstrated an undulating baseline heart rate between 100 and 130 BPM with possible variability during contractions (FIGURE 4B). This pattern continued for an additional 60 minutes. At vaginal delivery, the ObGyn was surprised to deliver a depressed newborn with Apgar scores of 1 and 3 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively.

Slipping from the fetal to the maternal heart rate may be imperceptible

In contrast to the breaks in the tracings seen in Case 1 and Case 2, the EFM tracing in Case 3 appears continuous. Yet, slipping from the fetal to the maternal recording was occurring.

As seen in FIGURE 4C, the maternal heart rate with variability was recorded during pushing efforts, and the fetal heart rate was seen rising back toward a baseline between contractions. Note that the fetal heart rate did not reach a level baseline, but rather decelerated with the next contraction. The slipping to the maternal heart rate occurred without a perceptible break in the recording, making this tracing extremely difficult to interpret.

CASE 3 Be ever vigilant

The lack of recognition that the EFM recording had slipped to the maternal heart rate resulted in fetal and newborn hypoxia and acidosis, accounting for the infant’s low Apgar scores.

Read how using 3 steps can help you distinguish fetal from maternal heart rate patterns

Follow 3 steps to discern fetal vs maternal heart rate

These cases illustrate the difficulties in recognizing maternal heart rate patterns on the fetal monitor tracing. The 3 simple steps described below can aid in differentiating maternal from fetal heart rate patterns.

1 Be aware and alert

Recognize that EFM monitoring of the maternal heart rate may occur during periods of monitoring, particularly in second-stage labor. Often, the recorded tracing is a mix of fetal and maternal patterns. Remember that the maternal heart rate may increase markedly during the second stage and rise even higher during pushing efforts. When presented with a tracing that ostensibly represents the fetus, it may be challenging for the clinician to question that assumption. Thus, be aware that tracings may not represent what they seem to be.

Often, clinicians view only the 10-minute portion of the tracing displayed on the monitor screen. I recommend, however, that clinicians review the tracing over the past 30 to 60 minutes, or since their last EFM assessment, for an understanding of the recent fetal baseline heart rate and decelerations.

2 Investigate

Although it is sometimes challenging to recognize EFM maternal heart rate recordings, this is relatively easy to investigate. Even without a pulse oximeter in place, carefully examine the EFM recording for maternal signs to determine if the maternal heart rate is within the range of the recording. You can confirm that the recording is maternal through 1 of 3 easy measures:

• First, check the maternal radial pulse and correlate it with the heart rate baseline.
• Second, place a maternal electrocardiographic (EKG) heart rate monitor.
• Last, and often the simplest approach for continuous tracings, place a finger pulse oximeter to provide a continuous maternal pulse reading. Should the maternal heart rate superimpose on the EFM recording, maternal patterns are likely being detected. However, since the pulse oximeter and EFM Doppler devices use different technologies, they will provide similar—but not precisely identical—heart rate numerical readings if both are assessing the maternal heart rate. In that case, take steps to assure that the EFM truly is recording the fetal heart rate.

3 Treat and correct

If the EFM is recording a maternal signal or if a significant question remains, place a fetal scalp electrode (unless contraindicated), as this may likely occur during the second stage. Alternatively, place a maternal surface fetal EKG monitor, or use ultrasonography to visually assess the fetal heart rate in real time.

Key point summary

The use of a maternal finger pulse oximeter, combined with a careful assessment of the EFM tracing, and/or a fetal scalp electrode are appropriate measures for confirming a fetal heart rate recording.

The 3 steps described (be aware and alert, investigate, treat and correct) can help you effectively monitor the fetal heart rate and avoid the potentially dangerous outcomes that might occur when the maternal heart rate masquerades as the fetal heart rate.

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

In this Update I highlight 5 interesting investigations on infectious diseases. The first addresses the value of applying prophylactically a negative-pressure wound dressing to prevent surgical site infection (SSI) in obese women having cesarean delivery (CD). The second report assesses the effectiveness of a preoperative vaginal wash in reducing the frequency of postcesarean endometritis. The third investigation examines the role of systemic antibiotics, combined with surgical drainage, for patients who have subcutaneous abscesses ranging in size up to 5 cm. The fourth study presents new information about the major risk factors for Clostridium difficile infections in obstetric patients. The final study presents valuable sobering new data about the risks of congenital Zika virus infection.

Negative-pressure wound therapy after CD shows some benefit in preventing SSI

Yu L, Kronen RJ, Simon LE, Stoll CR, Colditz GA, Tuuli MG. Prophylactic negative-pressure wound therapy after cesarean is associated with reduced risk of surgical site infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;218(2):200-210.e1.

Illustration: Used with permission. Courtesy of KCI, an Acelity Company

Yu and colleagues sought to determine if the prophylactic use of negative-pressure devices, compared with standard wound dressing, was effective in reducing the frequency of SSI after CD.

The authors searched multiple databases and initially identified 161 randomized controlled trials and cohort studies for further assessment. After applying rigorous exclusion criteria, they ultimately selected 9 studies for systematic review and meta-analysis. Six studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 2 were retrospective cohort studies, and 1 was a prospective cohort study. Five studies were considered high quality; 4 were of low quality. 

Details of the study

Several types of negative-pressure devices were used, but the 2 most common were the Prevena incision management system (KCI, San Antonio, Texas) and PICO negative- pressure wound therapy (Smith & Nephew, St. Petersburg, Florida). The majority of patients in all groups were at high risk for wound complications because of obesity.

The primary outcome of interest was the frequency of SSI. Secondary outcomes included dehiscence, seroma, endometritis, a composite measure for all wound complications, and hospital readmission.

The absolute risk of SSI in the intervention group was 5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0%-7.0%) compared with 11% (95% CI, 7.0%-16.0%) in the standard dressing group. The pooled risk ratio was 0.45 (95% CI, 0.31-0.66). The absolute risk reduction was 6% (95% CI, -10.0% to -3.0%), and the number needed to treat was 17.

There were no significant differences in the rate of any of the secondary outcomes other than the composite of all wound complications. This difference was largely accounted for by the difference in the rate of SSI. 

Illustration: Used with permission. Courtesy of KCI, an Acelity Company

How negative-pressure devices aid wound healing

Yu and colleagues explained that negative-pressure devices exert their beneficial effects in various ways, including:

• shrinking the wound  
• inducing cellular stretch
• removing extracellular fluids
• creating a favorable environment for healing
• promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis.

Multiple studies in nonobstetric patients have shown that prophylactic use of negative-pressure devices is beneficial in reducing the rate of SSI.¹ Yu and colleagues' systematic review and meta-analysis confirms those findings in a high-risk population of women having CD.

Study limitations

Before routinely adopting the use of negative-pressure devices for all women having CD, however, obstetricians should consider the following caveats:  

• The investigations included in the study by Yu and colleagues did not consistently distinguish between scheduled versus unscheduled CDs.
• The reports did not systematically consider other major risk factors for wound complications besides obesity, and they did not control for these confounders in the statistical analyses.
• The studies included in the meta-analysis did not provide full descriptions of other measures that might influence the rate of SSIs, such as timing and selection of prophylactic antibiotics, selection of suture material, preoperative skin preparation, and closure techniques for the deep subcutaneous tissue and skin.
• None of the included studies systematically considered the cost-effectiveness of the negative-pressure devices. This is an important consideration given that the acquisition cost of these devices ranges from $200 to $500.

Read about vaginal cleansing’s effect on post-CD endometritis

Vaginal cleansing before CD lowers risk of postop endometritis

Caissutti C, Saccone G, Zullo F, et al. Vaginal cleansing before cesarean delivery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obstet Gynecol. 2017;130(3):527-538.

Photo: Shutterstock

Caissutti and colleagues aimed to determine if cleansing the vagina with an antiseptic solution prior to surgery reduced the frequency of postcesarean endometritis. They included 16 RCTs (4,837 patients) in their systematic review and meta-analysis. The primary outcome was the frequency of postoperative endometritis.

Details of the study

The studies were conducted in several countries and included patients of various socioeconomic classes. Six trials included only patients having a scheduled CD; 9 included both scheduled and unscheduled cesareans; and 1 included only unscheduled cesareans. In 11 studies, povidone-iodine was the antiseptic solution used. Two trials used chlorhexidine diacetate 0.2%, and 1 used chlorhexidine diacetate 0.4%. One trial used metronidazole 0.5% gel, and another used the antiseptic cetrimide, which is a mixture of different quaternary ammonium salts, including cetrimonium bromide.

In all trials, patients received prophylactic antibiotics. The antibiotics were administered prior to the surgical incision in 6 trials; they were given after the umbilical cord was clamped in 6 trials. In 2 trials, the antibiotics were given at varying times, and in the final 2 trials, the timing of antibiotic administration was not reported. Of note, no trials described the method of placenta removal, a factor of considerable significance in influencing the rate of postoperative endometritis.^5,6

Endometritis frequency reduced with vaginal cleansing; benefit greater in certain groups. Overall, in the 15 trials in which vaginal cleansing was compared with placebo or with no treatment, women in the treatment group had a significantly lower rate of endometritis (4.5% compared with 8.8%; relative risk [RR], 0.52; 95% CI, 0.37-0.72). When only women in labor were considered, the frequency of endometritis was 8.1% in the intervention group compared with 13.8% in the control group (RR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.28-0.97). In the women who were not in labor, the difference in the incidence of endometritis was not statistically significant (3.5% vs 6.6%; RR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.34-1.15).

In the subgroup analysis of women with ruptured membranes at the time of surgery, the incidence of endometritis was 4.3% in the treatment group compared with 20.1% in the control group (RR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.10-0.52). In women with intact membranes at the time of surgery, the incidence of endometritis was not significantly reduced in the treatment group.

Interestingly, in the subgroup analysis of the 10 trials that used povidone-iodine, the reduction in the frequency of postcesarean endometritis was statistically significant (2.8% vs 6.3%; RR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.25-0.71). However, this same protective effect was not observed in the women treated with chlorhexidine. In the 1 trial that directly compared povidone-iodine with chlorhexidine, there was no statistically significant difference in outcome.

Simple intervention, solid benefit

Endometritis is the most common complication following CD. The infection is polymicrobial, with mixed aerobic and anaerobic organisms. The principal risk factors for postcesarean endometritis are low socioeconomic status, extended duration of labor and ruptured membranes, multiple vaginal examinations, internal fetal monitoring, and pre-existing vaginal infections (principally, bacterial vaginosis and group B streptococcal colonization).

Two interventions are clearly of value in reducing the incidence of endometritis: administration of prophylactic antibiotics prior to the surgical incision and removal of the placenta by traction on the cord as opposed to manual extraction.^5,6

The assessment by Caissutti and colleagues confirms that a third measure — preoperative vaginal cleansing — also helps reduce the incidence of postcesarean endometritis. The principal benefit is seen in women who have been in labor with ruptured membranes, although certainly it is not harmful in lower-risk patients. The intervention is simple and straightforward: a 30-second vaginal wash with a povidone-iodine solution just prior to surgery.

Read about management approaches for skin abscesses

Treat smaller skin abscesses with antibiotics after surgical drainage? Yes.

Daum RS, Miller LG, Immergluck L, et al; for the DMID 07-0051 Team. A placebo-controlled trial of antibiotics for smaller skin abscesses. N Engl J Med. 2017;376(26):2545-2555.

Photo: Shutterstock

For treatment of subcutaneous abscesses that were 5 cm or smaller in diameter, investigators sought to determine if surgical drainage alone was equivalent to surgical drainage plus systemic antibiotics. After their abscess was drained, patients were randomly assigned to receive either clindamycin (300 mg 3 times daily) or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (80 mg/400 mg twice daily) or placebo for 10 days. The primary outcome was clinical cure 7 to 10 days after treatment.

Details of the study

Daum and colleagues enrolled 786 participants (505 adults, 281 children) in the prospective double-blind study. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 527 patients (67.0%); methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) was isolated from 388 (49.4%). The cure rate was similar in patients in the clindamycin group (83.1%) and the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole group (81.7%), and the cure rate in each antibiotic group was significantly higher than that in the placebo group (68.9%; P<.001 for both comparisons). The difference in treatment effect was specifically limited to patients who had S aureus isolated from their lesions.

Findings at follow-up. At 1 month of  follow-up, new infections were less common in the clindamycin group (6.8%) than in the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole group (13.5%; P = .03) or the placebo group (12.4%; P = .06). However, the highest frequency of adverse effects occurred in the patients who received clindamycin (21.9% vs 11.1% vs 12.5%). No adverse effects were judged to be serious, and all resolved without sequela.

Controversy remains on antibiotic use after drainage

This study is important for 2 major reasons. First, soft tissue infections are quite commonand can evolve into serious problems, especially when the offending pathogen is MRSA. Second, controversy exists about whether systemic antibiotics are indicated if the subcutaneous abscess is relatively small and is adequately drained. For example, Talan and colleagues demonstrated that, in settings with a high prevalence of MRSA, surgical drainage combined with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (1 double-strength tablet orally twice daily) was superior to drainage plus placebo.⁸ However, Daum and Gold recently debated the issue of drainage plus antibiotics in a case vignette and reached opposite conclusions.⁹

Read how to avoid C difficile infections in pregnant patients

Antibiotic use, common in the obstetric population, raises risk for C difficile infection

Ruiter-Ligeti J, Vincent S, Czuzoj-Shulman N, Abenhaim HA. Risk factors, incidence, and morbidity associated with obstetric Clostridium difficile infection. Obstet Gynecol. 2018;131(2):387-391.

Photo: Shutterstock

The objective of this investigation was to identify risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection (previously termed pseudomembranous enterocolitis) in obstetric patients. The authors performed a retrospective cohort study using information from a large database maintained by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This database provides information about inpatient hospital stays in the United States, and it is the largest repository of its kind. It includes data from a sample of 1,000 US hospitals.

Details of the study

Ruiter-Ligeti and colleagues reviewed 13,881,592 births during 1999-2013 and identified 2,757 (0.02%) admissions for delivery complicated by C difficile infection, a rate of 20 admissions per 100,000 deliveries per year (95% CI, 19.13-20.62). The rate of admissions with this diagnosis doubled from 1999 (15 per 100,000) to 2013 (30 per 100,000, P<.001).

Among these obstetric patients, the principal risk factors for C difficile infection were older age, multiple gestation, long-term antibiotic use (not precisely defined), and concurrent diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, patients with pyelonephritis, perineal or cesarean wound infections, or pneumonia also were at increased risk, presumably because those patients required longer courses of broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Of additional note, when compared with women who did not have C difficile infection, patients with infection were more likely to develop a thromboembolic event (38.4 per 1,000), paralytic ileus (58.0 per 1,000), sepsis (46.4 per 1,000), and death (8.0 per 1,000).

Be on guard for C difficile infection in antibiotic-treated obstetric patients

C difficile infection is an uncommon but potentially very serious complication of antibiotic therapy. Given that approximately half of all women admitted for delivery are exposed to antibiotics because of prophylaxis for group B streptococcus infection, prophylaxis for CD, and treatment of chorioamnionitis and puerperal endometritis, clinicians constantly need to be vigilant for this complication.¹¹

Affected patients typically present with frequent loose, watery stools and lower abdominal cramping. In severe cases, blood may be present in the stool, and signs of intestinal distention and even acute peritonitis may be evident. The diagnosis can be established by documenting a positive culture or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for C difficile and a positive cytotoxin assay for toxins A and/or B. In addition, if endoscopy is performed, the characteristic gray membranous plaques can be visualized on the rectal and colonic mucosa.¹¹

Discontinue antibiotic therapy. The first step in managing affected patients is to stop all antibiotics, if possible, or at least the one most likely to be the causative agent of C difficile infection. Patients with relatively mild clinical findings should be treated with oral metronidazole, 500 mg every 8 hours for 10 to 14 days. Patients with severe findings should be treated with oral vancomycin, 500 mg every 6 hours, plus IV metronidazole, 500 mg every 8 hours. The more seriously ill patient must be observed carefully for signs of bowel obstruction, intestinal perforation, peritonitis, and sepsis.

Read about pregnancy outcomes and trimester of maternal Zika infection

Danger for birth defects with maternal Zika infection present in all trimesters, but greatest in first

Hoen B, Schaub B, Funk AL, et al. Pregnancy outcomes after ZIKV infection in French territories in the Americas. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(11):985-994.

Photo: Shutterstock

To estimate the risk of congenital neurologic defects associated with Zika virus infection, Hoen and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study of pregnant women with symptomatic Zika virus infection who were enrolled during March through November 2016 in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique. All women had Zika virus infection confirmed by PCR assay.

Details of the study

The investigators reviewed 546 pregnancies, which resulted in the birth of 555 fetuses and infants. Thirty-nine fetuses and neonates (7%; 95% CI, 5.0-9.5) had neurologic and ocular findings known to be associated with Zika virus infection. Of these, 10 pregnancies were terminated, 1 fetus was stillborn, and 28 were live-born.

Microcephaly (defined as head circumference more than 2 SD below the mean) was present in 32 fetuses and infants (5.8%); 9 had severe microcephaly, defined as head circumference more than 3 SD below the mean. Neurologic and ocular abnormalities were more common when maternal infection occurred during the first trimester (24 of 189 fetuses and infants, 12.7%) compared with infection during the second trimester (9 of 252, 3.6%) or third trimester (6 of 114, 5.3%) (P = .001). 

Studies report similar rates of fetal injury

Zika virus infection primarily is caused by a bite from the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The infection also can be transmitted by sexual contact, laboratory accident, and blood transfusion. Eighty percent of infected persons are asymptomatic. In symptomatic patients, the most common clinical manifestations are low-grade fever, a disseminated maculopapular rash, arthralgias, swelling of the hands and feet, and nonpurulent conjunctivitis.

The most ominous manifestation of congenital Zika virus infection is microcephaly. Other important manifestations include lissencephaly, pachygyria, cortical atrophy, ventriculomegaly, subcortical calcifications, ocular abnormalities, and arthrogryposis. Although most of these abnormalities are immediately visible in the neonate, some may not appear until the child is older.

The present study is an excellent complement to 2 recent reports that defined the risk of Zika virus-related fetal injury in patients in the United States and its territories. Based on an analysis of data from the US Zika Pregnancy Registry, Honein and colleagues reported an overall rate of congenital infection of 6%.¹² The rate of fetal injury was 11% when the mother was infected in the first trimester and 0% when the infection occurred in the second or third trimester. The overall rate of infection and the first trimester rate of infection were similar to those reported by Hoen and colleagues.

Conversely, Shapiro-Mendoza and colleagues evaluated rates of infection in US territories (American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands) and observed cases of fetal injury associated with second- and third-trimester maternal infection.¹³ These authors reported an overall rate of infection of 5% and an 8% rate of infection with first-trimester maternal infection. When maternal infection occurred in the second and third trimesters, the rates of fetal injury were 5% and 4%, respectively, figures almost identical to those reported by Hoen and colleagues. Of note, the investigations by Honein and Shapiro-Mendoza included women with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection. 

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

In this Update I highlight 5 interesting investigations on infectious diseases. The first addresses the value of applying prophylactically a negative-pressure wound dressing to prevent surgical site infection (SSI) in obese women having cesarean delivery (CD). The second report assesses the effectiveness of a preoperative vaginal wash in reducing the frequency of postcesarean endometritis. The third investigation examines the role of systemic antibiotics, combined with surgical drainage, for patients who have subcutaneous abscesses ranging in size up to 5 cm. The fourth study presents new information about the major risk factors for Clostridium difficile infections in obstetric patients. The final study presents valuable sobering new data about the risks of congenital Zika virus infection.

Negative-pressure wound therapy after CD shows some benefit in preventing SSI

Yu L, Kronen RJ, Simon LE, Stoll CR, Colditz GA, Tuuli MG. Prophylactic negative-pressure wound therapy after cesarean is associated with reduced risk of surgical site infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;218(2):200-210.e1.

Illustration: Used with permission. Courtesy of KCI, an Acelity Company

Yu and colleagues sought to determine if the prophylactic use of negative-pressure devices, compared with standard wound dressing, was effective in reducing the frequency of SSI after CD.

The authors searched multiple databases and initially identified 161 randomized controlled trials and cohort studies for further assessment. After applying rigorous exclusion criteria, they ultimately selected 9 studies for systematic review and meta-analysis. Six studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 2 were retrospective cohort studies, and 1 was a prospective cohort study. Five studies were considered high quality; 4 were of low quality. 

Details of the study

Several types of negative-pressure devices were used, but the 2 most common were the Prevena incision management system (KCI, San Antonio, Texas) and PICO negative- pressure wound therapy (Smith & Nephew, St. Petersburg, Florida). The majority of patients in all groups were at high risk for wound complications because of obesity.

The primary outcome of interest was the frequency of SSI. Secondary outcomes included dehiscence, seroma, endometritis, a composite measure for all wound complications, and hospital readmission.

The absolute risk of SSI in the intervention group was 5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0%-7.0%) compared with 11% (95% CI, 7.0%-16.0%) in the standard dressing group. The pooled risk ratio was 0.45 (95% CI, 0.31-0.66). The absolute risk reduction was 6% (95% CI, -10.0% to -3.0%), and the number needed to treat was 17.

There were no significant differences in the rate of any of the secondary outcomes other than the composite of all wound complications. This difference was largely accounted for by the difference in the rate of SSI. 

Illustration: Used with permission. Courtesy of KCI, an Acelity Company

How negative-pressure devices aid wound healing

Yu and colleagues explained that negative-pressure devices exert their beneficial effects in various ways, including:

• shrinking the wound  
• inducing cellular stretch
• removing extracellular fluids
• creating a favorable environment for healing
• promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis.

Multiple studies in nonobstetric patients have shown that prophylactic use of negative-pressure devices is beneficial in reducing the rate of SSI.¹ Yu and colleagues' systematic review and meta-analysis confirms those findings in a high-risk population of women having CD.

Study limitations

Before routinely adopting the use of negative-pressure devices for all women having CD, however, obstetricians should consider the following caveats:  

• The investigations included in the study by Yu and colleagues did not consistently distinguish between scheduled versus unscheduled CDs.
• The reports did not systematically consider other major risk factors for wound complications besides obesity, and they did not control for these confounders in the statistical analyses.
• The studies included in the meta-analysis did not provide full descriptions of other measures that might influence the rate of SSIs, such as timing and selection of prophylactic antibiotics, selection of suture material, preoperative skin preparation, and closure techniques for the deep subcutaneous tissue and skin.
• None of the included studies systematically considered the cost-effectiveness of the negative-pressure devices. This is an important consideration given that the acquisition cost of these devices ranges from $200 to $500.

Read about vaginal cleansing’s effect on post-CD endometritis

Vaginal cleansing before CD lowers risk of postop endometritis

Caissutti C, Saccone G, Zullo F, et al. Vaginal cleansing before cesarean delivery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obstet Gynecol. 2017;130(3):527-538.

Photo: Shutterstock

Caissutti and colleagues aimed to determine if cleansing the vagina with an antiseptic solution prior to surgery reduced the frequency of postcesarean endometritis. They included 16 RCTs (4,837 patients) in their systematic review and meta-analysis. The primary outcome was the frequency of postoperative endometritis.

Details of the study

The studies were conducted in several countries and included patients of various socioeconomic classes. Six trials included only patients having a scheduled CD; 9 included both scheduled and unscheduled cesareans; and 1 included only unscheduled cesareans. In 11 studies, povidone-iodine was the antiseptic solution used. Two trials used chlorhexidine diacetate 0.2%, and 1 used chlorhexidine diacetate 0.4%. One trial used metronidazole 0.5% gel, and another used the antiseptic cetrimide, which is a mixture of different quaternary ammonium salts, including cetrimonium bromide.

In all trials, patients received prophylactic antibiotics. The antibiotics were administered prior to the surgical incision in 6 trials; they were given after the umbilical cord was clamped in 6 trials. In 2 trials, the antibiotics were given at varying times, and in the final 2 trials, the timing of antibiotic administration was not reported. Of note, no trials described the method of placenta removal, a factor of considerable significance in influencing the rate of postoperative endometritis.^5,6

Endometritis frequency reduced with vaginal cleansing; benefit greater in certain groups. Overall, in the 15 trials in which vaginal cleansing was compared with placebo or with no treatment, women in the treatment group had a significantly lower rate of endometritis (4.5% compared with 8.8%; relative risk [RR], 0.52; 95% CI, 0.37-0.72). When only women in labor were considered, the frequency of endometritis was 8.1% in the intervention group compared with 13.8% in the control group (RR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.28-0.97). In the women who were not in labor, the difference in the incidence of endometritis was not statistically significant (3.5% vs 6.6%; RR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.34-1.15).

In the subgroup analysis of women with ruptured membranes at the time of surgery, the incidence of endometritis was 4.3% in the treatment group compared with 20.1% in the control group (RR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.10-0.52). In women with intact membranes at the time of surgery, the incidence of endometritis was not significantly reduced in the treatment group.

Interestingly, in the subgroup analysis of the 10 trials that used povidone-iodine, the reduction in the frequency of postcesarean endometritis was statistically significant (2.8% vs 6.3%; RR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.25-0.71). However, this same protective effect was not observed in the women treated with chlorhexidine. In the 1 trial that directly compared povidone-iodine with chlorhexidine, there was no statistically significant difference in outcome.

Simple intervention, solid benefit

Endometritis is the most common complication following CD. The infection is polymicrobial, with mixed aerobic and anaerobic organisms. The principal risk factors for postcesarean endometritis are low socioeconomic status, extended duration of labor and ruptured membranes, multiple vaginal examinations, internal fetal monitoring, and pre-existing vaginal infections (principally, bacterial vaginosis and group B streptococcal colonization).

Two interventions are clearly of value in reducing the incidence of endometritis: administration of prophylactic antibiotics prior to the surgical incision and removal of the placenta by traction on the cord as opposed to manual extraction.^5,6

The assessment by Caissutti and colleagues confirms that a third measure — preoperative vaginal cleansing — also helps reduce the incidence of postcesarean endometritis. The principal benefit is seen in women who have been in labor with ruptured membranes, although certainly it is not harmful in lower-risk patients. The intervention is simple and straightforward: a 30-second vaginal wash with a povidone-iodine solution just prior to surgery.

Read about management approaches for skin abscesses

Treat smaller skin abscesses with antibiotics after surgical drainage? Yes.

Daum RS, Miller LG, Immergluck L, et al; for the DMID 07-0051 Team. A placebo-controlled trial of antibiotics for smaller skin abscesses. N Engl J Med. 2017;376(26):2545-2555.

Photo: Shutterstock

For treatment of subcutaneous abscesses that were 5 cm or smaller in diameter, investigators sought to determine if surgical drainage alone was equivalent to surgical drainage plus systemic antibiotics. After their abscess was drained, patients were randomly assigned to receive either clindamycin (300 mg 3 times daily) or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (80 mg/400 mg twice daily) or placebo for 10 days. The primary outcome was clinical cure 7 to 10 days after treatment.

Details of the study

Daum and colleagues enrolled 786 participants (505 adults, 281 children) in the prospective double-blind study. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 527 patients (67.0%); methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) was isolated from 388 (49.4%). The cure rate was similar in patients in the clindamycin group (83.1%) and the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole group (81.7%), and the cure rate in each antibiotic group was significantly higher than that in the placebo group (68.9%; P<.001 for both comparisons). The difference in treatment effect was specifically limited to patients who had S aureus isolated from their lesions.

Findings at follow-up. At 1 month of  follow-up, new infections were less common in the clindamycin group (6.8%) than in the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole group (13.5%; P = .03) or the placebo group (12.4%; P = .06). However, the highest frequency of adverse effects occurred in the patients who received clindamycin (21.9% vs 11.1% vs 12.5%). No adverse effects were judged to be serious, and all resolved without sequela.

Controversy remains on antibiotic use after drainage

This study is important for 2 major reasons. First, soft tissue infections are quite commonand can evolve into serious problems, especially when the offending pathogen is MRSA. Second, controversy exists about whether systemic antibiotics are indicated if the subcutaneous abscess is relatively small and is adequately drained. For example, Talan and colleagues demonstrated that, in settings with a high prevalence of MRSA, surgical drainage combined with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (1 double-strength tablet orally twice daily) was superior to drainage plus placebo.⁸ However, Daum and Gold recently debated the issue of drainage plus antibiotics in a case vignette and reached opposite conclusions.⁹

Read how to avoid C difficile infections in pregnant patients

Antibiotic use, common in the obstetric population, raises risk for C difficile infection

Ruiter-Ligeti J, Vincent S, Czuzoj-Shulman N, Abenhaim HA. Risk factors, incidence, and morbidity associated with obstetric Clostridium difficile infection. Obstet Gynecol. 2018;131(2):387-391.

Photo: Shutterstock

The objective of this investigation was to identify risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection (previously termed pseudomembranous enterocolitis) in obstetric patients. The authors performed a retrospective cohort study using information from a large database maintained by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This database provides information about inpatient hospital stays in the United States, and it is the largest repository of its kind. It includes data from a sample of 1,000 US hospitals.

Details of the study

Ruiter-Ligeti and colleagues reviewed 13,881,592 births during 1999-2013 and identified 2,757 (0.02%) admissions for delivery complicated by C difficile infection, a rate of 20 admissions per 100,000 deliveries per year (95% CI, 19.13-20.62). The rate of admissions with this diagnosis doubled from 1999 (15 per 100,000) to 2013 (30 per 100,000, P<.001).

Among these obstetric patients, the principal risk factors for C difficile infection were older age, multiple gestation, long-term antibiotic use (not precisely defined), and concurrent diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, patients with pyelonephritis, perineal or cesarean wound infections, or pneumonia also were at increased risk, presumably because those patients required longer courses of broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Of additional note, when compared with women who did not have C difficile infection, patients with infection were more likely to develop a thromboembolic event (38.4 per 1,000), paralytic ileus (58.0 per 1,000), sepsis (46.4 per 1,000), and death (8.0 per 1,000).

Be on guard for C difficile infection in antibiotic-treated obstetric patients

C difficile infection is an uncommon but potentially very serious complication of antibiotic therapy. Given that approximately half of all women admitted for delivery are exposed to antibiotics because of prophylaxis for group B streptococcus infection, prophylaxis for CD, and treatment of chorioamnionitis and puerperal endometritis, clinicians constantly need to be vigilant for this complication.¹¹

Affected patients typically present with frequent loose, watery stools and lower abdominal cramping. In severe cases, blood may be present in the stool, and signs of intestinal distention and even acute peritonitis may be evident. The diagnosis can be established by documenting a positive culture or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for C difficile and a positive cytotoxin assay for toxins A and/or B. In addition, if endoscopy is performed, the characteristic gray membranous plaques can be visualized on the rectal and colonic mucosa.¹¹

Discontinue antibiotic therapy. The first step in managing affected patients is to stop all antibiotics, if possible, or at least the one most likely to be the causative agent of C difficile infection. Patients with relatively mild clinical findings should be treated with oral metronidazole, 500 mg every 8 hours for 10 to 14 days. Patients with severe findings should be treated with oral vancomycin, 500 mg every 6 hours, plus IV metronidazole, 500 mg every 8 hours. The more seriously ill patient must be observed carefully for signs of bowel obstruction, intestinal perforation, peritonitis, and sepsis.

Read about pregnancy outcomes and trimester of maternal Zika infection

Danger for birth defects with maternal Zika infection present in all trimesters, but greatest in first

Hoen B, Schaub B, Funk AL, et al. Pregnancy outcomes after ZIKV infection in French territories in the Americas. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(11):985-994.

Photo: Shutterstock

To estimate the risk of congenital neurologic defects associated with Zika virus infection, Hoen and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study of pregnant women with symptomatic Zika virus infection who were enrolled during March through November 2016 in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique. All women had Zika virus infection confirmed by PCR assay.

Details of the study

The investigators reviewed 546 pregnancies, which resulted in the birth of 555 fetuses and infants. Thirty-nine fetuses and neonates (7%; 95% CI, 5.0-9.5) had neurologic and ocular findings known to be associated with Zika virus infection. Of these, 10 pregnancies were terminated, 1 fetus was stillborn, and 28 were live-born.

Microcephaly (defined as head circumference more than 2 SD below the mean) was present in 32 fetuses and infants (5.8%); 9 had severe microcephaly, defined as head circumference more than 3 SD below the mean. Neurologic and ocular abnormalities were more common when maternal infection occurred during the first trimester (24 of 189 fetuses and infants, 12.7%) compared with infection during the second trimester (9 of 252, 3.6%) or third trimester (6 of 114, 5.3%) (P = .001). 

Studies report similar rates of fetal injury

Zika virus infection primarily is caused by a bite from the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The infection also can be transmitted by sexual contact, laboratory accident, and blood transfusion. Eighty percent of infected persons are asymptomatic. In symptomatic patients, the most common clinical manifestations are low-grade fever, a disseminated maculopapular rash, arthralgias, swelling of the hands and feet, and nonpurulent conjunctivitis.

The most ominous manifestation of congenital Zika virus infection is microcephaly. Other important manifestations include lissencephaly, pachygyria, cortical atrophy, ventriculomegaly, subcortical calcifications, ocular abnormalities, and arthrogryposis. Although most of these abnormalities are immediately visible in the neonate, some may not appear until the child is older.

The present study is an excellent complement to 2 recent reports that defined the risk of Zika virus-related fetal injury in patients in the United States and its territories. Based on an analysis of data from the US Zika Pregnancy Registry, Honein and colleagues reported an overall rate of congenital infection of 6%.¹² The rate of fetal injury was 11% when the mother was infected in the first trimester and 0% when the infection occurred in the second or third trimester. The overall rate of infection and the first trimester rate of infection were similar to those reported by Hoen and colleagues.

Conversely, Shapiro-Mendoza and colleagues evaluated rates of infection in US territories (American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands) and observed cases of fetal injury associated with second- and third-trimester maternal infection.¹³ These authors reported an overall rate of infection of 5% and an 8% rate of infection with first-trimester maternal infection. When maternal infection occurred in the second and third trimesters, the rates of fetal injury were 5% and 4%, respectively, figures almost identical to those reported by Hoen and colleagues. Of note, the investigations by Honein and Shapiro-Mendoza included women with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection. 

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

In this Update I highlight 5 interesting investigations on infectious diseases. The first addresses the value of applying prophylactically a negative-pressure wound dressing to prevent surgical site infection (SSI) in obese women having cesarean delivery (CD). The second report assesses the effectiveness of a preoperative vaginal wash in reducing the frequency of postcesarean endometritis. The third investigation examines the role of systemic antibiotics, combined with surgical drainage, for patients who have subcutaneous abscesses ranging in size up to 5 cm. The fourth study presents new information about the major risk factors for Clostridium difficile infections in obstetric patients. The final study presents valuable sobering new data about the risks of congenital Zika virus infection.

Negative-pressure wound therapy after CD shows some benefit in preventing SSI

Yu L, Kronen RJ, Simon LE, Stoll CR, Colditz GA, Tuuli MG. Prophylactic negative-pressure wound therapy after cesarean is associated with reduced risk of surgical site infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;218(2):200-210.e1.

Illustration: Used with permission. Courtesy of KCI, an Acelity Company

Yu and colleagues sought to determine if the prophylactic use of negative-pressure devices, compared with standard wound dressing, was effective in reducing the frequency of SSI after CD.

The authors searched multiple databases and initially identified 161 randomized controlled trials and cohort studies for further assessment. After applying rigorous exclusion criteria, they ultimately selected 9 studies for systematic review and meta-analysis. Six studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 2 were retrospective cohort studies, and 1 was a prospective cohort study. Five studies were considered high quality; 4 were of low quality. 

Details of the study

Several types of negative-pressure devices were used, but the 2 most common were the Prevena incision management system (KCI, San Antonio, Texas) and PICO negative- pressure wound therapy (Smith & Nephew, St. Petersburg, Florida). The majority of patients in all groups were at high risk for wound complications because of obesity.

The primary outcome of interest was the frequency of SSI. Secondary outcomes included dehiscence, seroma, endometritis, a composite measure for all wound complications, and hospital readmission.

The absolute risk of SSI in the intervention group was 5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0%-7.0%) compared with 11% (95% CI, 7.0%-16.0%) in the standard dressing group. The pooled risk ratio was 0.45 (95% CI, 0.31-0.66). The absolute risk reduction was 6% (95% CI, -10.0% to -3.0%), and the number needed to treat was 17.

There were no significant differences in the rate of any of the secondary outcomes other than the composite of all wound complications. This difference was largely accounted for by the difference in the rate of SSI. 

Illustration: Used with permission. Courtesy of KCI, an Acelity Company

How negative-pressure devices aid wound healing

Yu and colleagues explained that negative-pressure devices exert their beneficial effects in various ways, including:

• shrinking the wound  
• inducing cellular stretch
• removing extracellular fluids
• creating a favorable environment for healing
• promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis.

Multiple studies in nonobstetric patients have shown that prophylactic use of negative-pressure devices is beneficial in reducing the rate of SSI.¹ Yu and colleagues' systematic review and meta-analysis confirms those findings in a high-risk population of women having CD.

Study limitations

Before routinely adopting the use of negative-pressure devices for all women having CD, however, obstetricians should consider the following caveats:  

• The investigations included in the study by Yu and colleagues did not consistently distinguish between scheduled versus unscheduled CDs.
• The reports did not systematically consider other major risk factors for wound complications besides obesity, and they did not control for these confounders in the statistical analyses.
• The studies included in the meta-analysis did not provide full descriptions of other measures that might influence the rate of SSIs, such as timing and selection of prophylactic antibiotics, selection of suture material, preoperative skin preparation, and closure techniques for the deep subcutaneous tissue and skin.
• None of the included studies systematically considered the cost-effectiveness of the negative-pressure devices. This is an important consideration given that the acquisition cost of these devices ranges from $200 to $500.

Read about vaginal cleansing’s effect on post-CD endometritis

Vaginal cleansing before CD lowers risk of postop endometritis

Caissutti C, Saccone G, Zullo F, et al. Vaginal cleansing before cesarean delivery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obstet Gynecol. 2017;130(3):527-538.

Photo: Shutterstock

Caissutti and colleagues aimed to determine if cleansing the vagina with an antiseptic solution prior to surgery reduced the frequency of postcesarean endometritis. They included 16 RCTs (4,837 patients) in their systematic review and meta-analysis. The primary outcome was the frequency of postoperative endometritis.

Details of the study

The studies were conducted in several countries and included patients of various socioeconomic classes. Six trials included only patients having a scheduled CD; 9 included both scheduled and unscheduled cesareans; and 1 included only unscheduled cesareans. In 11 studies, povidone-iodine was the antiseptic solution used. Two trials used chlorhexidine diacetate 0.2%, and 1 used chlorhexidine diacetate 0.4%. One trial used metronidazole 0.5% gel, and another used the antiseptic cetrimide, which is a mixture of different quaternary ammonium salts, including cetrimonium bromide.

In all trials, patients received prophylactic antibiotics. The antibiotics were administered prior to the surgical incision in 6 trials; they were given after the umbilical cord was clamped in 6 trials. In 2 trials, the antibiotics were given at varying times, and in the final 2 trials, the timing of antibiotic administration was not reported. Of note, no trials described the method of placenta removal, a factor of considerable significance in influencing the rate of postoperative endometritis.^5,6

Endometritis frequency reduced with vaginal cleansing; benefit greater in certain groups. Overall, in the 15 trials in which vaginal cleansing was compared with placebo or with no treatment, women in the treatment group had a significantly lower rate of endometritis (4.5% compared with 8.8%; relative risk [RR], 0.52; 95% CI, 0.37-0.72). When only women in labor were considered, the frequency of endometritis was 8.1% in the intervention group compared with 13.8% in the control group (RR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.28-0.97). In the women who were not in labor, the difference in the incidence of endometritis was not statistically significant (3.5% vs 6.6%; RR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.34-1.15).

In the subgroup analysis of women with ruptured membranes at the time of surgery, the incidence of endometritis was 4.3% in the treatment group compared with 20.1% in the control group (RR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.10-0.52). In women with intact membranes at the time of surgery, the incidence of endometritis was not significantly reduced in the treatment group.

Interestingly, in the subgroup analysis of the 10 trials that used povidone-iodine, the reduction in the frequency of postcesarean endometritis was statistically significant (2.8% vs 6.3%; RR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.25-0.71). However, this same protective effect was not observed in the women treated with chlorhexidine. In the 1 trial that directly compared povidone-iodine with chlorhexidine, there was no statistically significant difference in outcome.

Simple intervention, solid benefit

Endometritis is the most common complication following CD. The infection is polymicrobial, with mixed aerobic and anaerobic organisms. The principal risk factors for postcesarean endometritis are low socioeconomic status, extended duration of labor and ruptured membranes, multiple vaginal examinations, internal fetal monitoring, and pre-existing vaginal infections (principally, bacterial vaginosis and group B streptococcal colonization).

Two interventions are clearly of value in reducing the incidence of endometritis: administration of prophylactic antibiotics prior to the surgical incision and removal of the placenta by traction on the cord as opposed to manual extraction.^5,6

The assessment by Caissutti and colleagues confirms that a third measure — preoperative vaginal cleansing — also helps reduce the incidence of postcesarean endometritis. The principal benefit is seen in women who have been in labor with ruptured membranes, although certainly it is not harmful in lower-risk patients. The intervention is simple and straightforward: a 30-second vaginal wash with a povidone-iodine solution just prior to surgery.

Read about management approaches for skin abscesses

Treat smaller skin abscesses with antibiotics after surgical drainage? Yes.

Daum RS, Miller LG, Immergluck L, et al; for the DMID 07-0051 Team. A placebo-controlled trial of antibiotics for smaller skin abscesses. N Engl J Med. 2017;376(26):2545-2555.

Photo: Shutterstock

For treatment of subcutaneous abscesses that were 5 cm or smaller in diameter, investigators sought to determine if surgical drainage alone was equivalent to surgical drainage plus systemic antibiotics. After their abscess was drained, patients were randomly assigned to receive either clindamycin (300 mg 3 times daily) or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (80 mg/400 mg twice daily) or placebo for 10 days. The primary outcome was clinical cure 7 to 10 days after treatment.

Details of the study

Daum and colleagues enrolled 786 participants (505 adults, 281 children) in the prospective double-blind study. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 527 patients (67.0%); methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) was isolated from 388 (49.4%). The cure rate was similar in patients in the clindamycin group (83.1%) and the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole group (81.7%), and the cure rate in each antibiotic group was significantly higher than that in the placebo group (68.9%; P<.001 for both comparisons). The difference in treatment effect was specifically limited to patients who had S aureus isolated from their lesions.

Findings at follow-up. At 1 month of  follow-up, new infections were less common in the clindamycin group (6.8%) than in the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole group (13.5%; P = .03) or the placebo group (12.4%; P = .06). However, the highest frequency of adverse effects occurred in the patients who received clindamycin (21.9% vs 11.1% vs 12.5%). No adverse effects were judged to be serious, and all resolved without sequela.

Controversy remains on antibiotic use after drainage

This study is important for 2 major reasons. First, soft tissue infections are quite commonand can evolve into serious problems, especially when the offending pathogen is MRSA. Second, controversy exists about whether systemic antibiotics are indicated if the subcutaneous abscess is relatively small and is adequately drained. For example, Talan and colleagues demonstrated that, in settings with a high prevalence of MRSA, surgical drainage combined with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (1 double-strength tablet orally twice daily) was superior to drainage plus placebo.⁸ However, Daum and Gold recently debated the issue of drainage plus antibiotics in a case vignette and reached opposite conclusions.⁹

Read how to avoid C difficile infections in pregnant patients

Antibiotic use, common in the obstetric population, raises risk for C difficile infection

Ruiter-Ligeti J, Vincent S, Czuzoj-Shulman N, Abenhaim HA. Risk factors, incidence, and morbidity associated with obstetric Clostridium difficile infection. Obstet Gynecol. 2018;131(2):387-391.

Photo: Shutterstock

The objective of this investigation was to identify risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection (previously termed pseudomembranous enterocolitis) in obstetric patients. The authors performed a retrospective cohort study using information from a large database maintained by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This database provides information about inpatient hospital stays in the United States, and it is the largest repository of its kind. It includes data from a sample of 1,000 US hospitals.

Details of the study

Ruiter-Ligeti and colleagues reviewed 13,881,592 births during 1999-2013 and identified 2,757 (0.02%) admissions for delivery complicated by C difficile infection, a rate of 20 admissions per 100,000 deliveries per year (95% CI, 19.13-20.62). The rate of admissions with this diagnosis doubled from 1999 (15 per 100,000) to 2013 (30 per 100,000, P<.001).

Among these obstetric patients, the principal risk factors for C difficile infection were older age, multiple gestation, long-term antibiotic use (not precisely defined), and concurrent diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, patients with pyelonephritis, perineal or cesarean wound infections, or pneumonia also were at increased risk, presumably because those patients required longer courses of broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Of additional note, when compared with women who did not have C difficile infection, patients with infection were more likely to develop a thromboembolic event (38.4 per 1,000), paralytic ileus (58.0 per 1,000), sepsis (46.4 per 1,000), and death (8.0 per 1,000).

Be on guard for C difficile infection in antibiotic-treated obstetric patients

C difficile infection is an uncommon but potentially very serious complication of antibiotic therapy. Given that approximately half of all women admitted for delivery are exposed to antibiotics because of prophylaxis for group B streptococcus infection, prophylaxis for CD, and treatment of chorioamnionitis and puerperal endometritis, clinicians constantly need to be vigilant for this complication.¹¹

Affected patients typically present with frequent loose, watery stools and lower abdominal cramping. In severe cases, blood may be present in the stool, and signs of intestinal distention and even acute peritonitis may be evident. The diagnosis can be established by documenting a positive culture or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for C difficile and a positive cytotoxin assay for toxins A and/or B. In addition, if endoscopy is performed, the characteristic gray membranous plaques can be visualized on the rectal and colonic mucosa.¹¹

Discontinue antibiotic therapy. The first step in managing affected patients is to stop all antibiotics, if possible, or at least the one most likely to be the causative agent of C difficile infection. Patients with relatively mild clinical findings should be treated with oral metronidazole, 500 mg every 8 hours for 10 to 14 days. Patients with severe findings should be treated with oral vancomycin, 500 mg every 6 hours, plus IV metronidazole, 500 mg every 8 hours. The more seriously ill patient must be observed carefully for signs of bowel obstruction, intestinal perforation, peritonitis, and sepsis.

Read about pregnancy outcomes and trimester of maternal Zika infection

Danger for birth defects with maternal Zika infection present in all trimesters, but greatest in first

Hoen B, Schaub B, Funk AL, et al. Pregnancy outcomes after ZIKV infection in French territories in the Americas. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(11):985-994.

Photo: Shutterstock

To estimate the risk of congenital neurologic defects associated with Zika virus infection, Hoen and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study of pregnant women with symptomatic Zika virus infection who were enrolled during March through November 2016 in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique. All women had Zika virus infection confirmed by PCR assay.

Details of the study

The investigators reviewed 546 pregnancies, which resulted in the birth of 555 fetuses and infants. Thirty-nine fetuses and neonates (7%; 95% CI, 5.0-9.5) had neurologic and ocular findings known to be associated with Zika virus infection. Of these, 10 pregnancies were terminated, 1 fetus was stillborn, and 28 were live-born.

Microcephaly (defined as head circumference more than 2 SD below the mean) was present in 32 fetuses and infants (5.8%); 9 had severe microcephaly, defined as head circumference more than 3 SD below the mean. Neurologic and ocular abnormalities were more common when maternal infection occurred during the first trimester (24 of 189 fetuses and infants, 12.7%) compared with infection during the second trimester (9 of 252, 3.6%) or third trimester (6 of 114, 5.3%) (P = .001). 

Studies report similar rates of fetal injury

Zika virus infection primarily is caused by a bite from the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The infection also can be transmitted by sexual contact, laboratory accident, and blood transfusion. Eighty percent of infected persons are asymptomatic. In symptomatic patients, the most common clinical manifestations are low-grade fever, a disseminated maculopapular rash, arthralgias, swelling of the hands and feet, and nonpurulent conjunctivitis.

The most ominous manifestation of congenital Zika virus infection is microcephaly. Other important manifestations include lissencephaly, pachygyria, cortical atrophy, ventriculomegaly, subcortical calcifications, ocular abnormalities, and arthrogryposis. Although most of these abnormalities are immediately visible in the neonate, some may not appear until the child is older.

The present study is an excellent complement to 2 recent reports that defined the risk of Zika virus-related fetal injury in patients in the United States and its territories. Based on an analysis of data from the US Zika Pregnancy Registry, Honein and colleagues reported an overall rate of congenital infection of 6%.¹² The rate of fetal injury was 11% when the mother was infected in the first trimester and 0% when the infection occurred in the second or third trimester. The overall rate of infection and the first trimester rate of infection were similar to those reported by Hoen and colleagues.

Conversely, Shapiro-Mendoza and colleagues evaluated rates of infection in US territories (American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands) and observed cases of fetal injury associated with second- and third-trimester maternal infection.¹³ These authors reported an overall rate of infection of 5% and an 8% rate of infection with first-trimester maternal infection. When maternal infection occurred in the second and third trimesters, the rates of fetal injury were 5% and 4%, respectively, figures almost identical to those reported by Hoen and colleagues. Of note, the investigations by Honein and Shapiro-Mendoza included women with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection. 

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Photo: Shutterstock

Despite increasing media coverage of human trafficking and the gravity of its many ramifications, I am struck by how often trainees and other clinicians present to me patients for which trafficking is a real potential concern—yet who give me a blank expression when I ask if anyone has screened these patients for being victims of trafficking. I suspect that few of us anticipated, during medical training, that we would be providing care to women who are enslaved.

How large is the problem?

It is impossible to comprehend the true scope of human trafficking. Estimates are that 20.9 million men, women, and children globally are forced into work that they are not free to leave.¹

Although human trafficking is recognized as a global phenomenon, its prevalence in the United States is significant enough that it should prompt the health care community to engage in helping identify and assist victims/survivors: From January until June of 2017, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 13,807 telephone calls, resulting in reporting of 4,460 cases.² Indeed, from 2015 to 2016 there was a 35.7% increase in the number of hotline cases reported, for a total of 7,572 (6,340—more than 80%—of which regarded females). California had the most cases reported (1,323), followed by Texas (670) and Florida (550); those 3 states also reported an increase in trafficking crime. Vermont (5), Rhode Island (9), and Alaska (10) reported the fewest calls.³

How is trafficking defined?

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines “trafficking in persons” as:

… recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.⁴

Traffickers prey on potentially vulnerable people. Girls and young women who have experienced poverty, homelessness, childhood sexual abuse, substance abuse, gender nonconformity, mental illness, or developmental delay are at particular risk.⁵ Children who have had interactions with Child Protective Services, come from a dysfunctional family, or have lived in a community with high crime, political or social unrest, corruption, or gender bias and discrimination are also at increased risk.⁶

Read about clues that raise clinical suspicion

Clues that raise clinical suspicion

A number of potential signs should make providers suspicious about potential human trafficking. Some of those signs are similar to the red flags we see in intimate partner violence, such as:

• having a difficult time talking to the patient alone
• having the accompanying person answer the patient’s questions
• body language that suggests fear, anxiety, or distrust (eg, shifting positions, looking away, appearing withdrawn)
• physical examination inconsistent with the history
• physical injury (especially multiple injuries or injuries in various stages of healing)
• refusal of interpreter services.

Trafficked girls or women may appear overly familiar with sex, have unexpected material possessions, or appear to be giving scripted or memorized answers to queries.⁷ Traffickers often confiscate their victims’ personal identification. They try to prevent victims from knowing their geographic locales: Patients might not have any documentation or awareness of exact surroundings (eg, their home address). Patients may be wearing clothes considered inappropriate for the weather or venue. They may have tattoos that are marks of branding.⁸

Medical consequences of being trafficked are obvious, numerous, and serious

Many medical sequelae that result from trafficking are obvious, given the nature of work that victims are forced to do. For example, overcrowding can lead to infectious disease, such as tuberculosis.⁹ Inadequate access to preventive or basic medical services can result in weight loss, poor dentition, and untreated chronic medical conditions.

If victims are experiencing physical or sexual abuse, they can present with evidence of blunt trauma, ligature marks, skin burns, wounds inflicted by weapons, and vaginal lacerations.¹⁰ A study found that 63% of survivors reported at least 10 somatic symptoms, including headache, fatigue, dizziness, back pain, abdominal or pelvic pain, memory loss, and symptoms of genital infectious disease.¹¹

Girls and women being trafficked for sex may experience many of the sequelae of unprotected intercourse: irregular bleeding, unintended pregnancy, unwanted or unsafe pregnancy termination, vaginal trauma, and sexually transmitted infection (STI).¹² In a study of trafficking survivors, 38% were HIV-positive.¹³

Trafficking survivors can suffer myriad mental health conditions, with high rates of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and suicidal ideation.¹⁴ A study of 387 survivors found that 12% had attempted to harm themselves or commit suicide the month before they were interviewed.¹⁵

Substance abuse is also a common problem among trafficking victims.¹⁶ One survivor interviewed in a recent study said:

It was much more difficult to work sober because I was dealing with emotions or the pain that I was feeling during intercourse, because when you have sex with people 8, 9, 10 times a day, even more than that, it starts to hurt a lot. And being high made it easier to deal with that and also it made it easier for me to get away from my body while it was happening, place my brain somewhere else.¹⁷

Because of the substantial risk of mental health problems, including substance abuse, among trafficking survivors, the physical exam of a patient should include careful assessment of demeanor and mental health status. Of course, comprehensive inspection for signs of physical or blunt trauma is paramount.

Read about Patient and staff safety during the visit

Patient and staff safety during the visit

Providers should be aware of potential safety concerns, both for the patient and for the staff. Creative strategies should be utilized to screen the patient in private. The use of interpreter services—either in person or over the telephone—should be presented and facilitated as being a routine part of practice. Any person who accompanies the patient should be asked to leave the examining room, either as a statement of practice routine or under the guise of having him (or her) step out to obtain paperwork or provide documentation.

Care of victims

Trauma-informed care should be a guiding principle for trafficking survivors. This involves empowering the patient, who may feel victimized again if asked to undress and undergo multiple physical examinations. Macias-Konstantopoulos noted: “A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges the pervasiveness and effect of trauma across the life span of the individual, recognizes the vulnerabilities and emotional triggers of trauma survivors, minimizes repeated traumatization and fosters physical, psychological, and emotional safety, recovery, health and well-being.”¹⁸

The patient should be counseled that she has control over her body and can guide different aspects of the examination. For example the provider should discuss: 1) the amount of clothing deemed optimal for an examination, 2) the availability of a support person during the exam (for instance, a nurse or a social worker) if the patient requests one, and 3) utilization of whatever strategies the patient deems optimal for her to be most comfortable during the exam (such as leaving the door slightly ajar or having a mutually agreed-on signal to interrupt the exam).

Routine health care maintenance should be offered, including an assessment of overall physical and dental health and screening for STI and mental health. Screening for substances of abuse should be considered. If indicated, emergency contraception, postexposure HIV prophylaxis, immunizations, and empiric antibiotics for STI should be offered.¹⁹

Screening when indicated by evidence, suspicion, or concern

Unlike the case with intimate partner violence, experts do not recommend universal screening for human trafficking. Clinicians should be comfortable, however, trying to elicit that history when a concern arises, either because of identified risk factors, red flags, or concerns that arise from the findings of the history or physical. Ideally, clinicians should consider becoming comfortable choosing a few screening questions to regularly incorporate into their assessment. The US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) offers a list of questions that can be utilized (TABLE).²⁰

In January 2018, the Office on Trafficking in Persons, a unit of the HHS Administration for Children and Families, released an “Adult Human Trafficking Screening Tool and Guide.” The document includes 2 excellent tools²¹ that clinicians can utilize to identify patients who should be screened and how to identify and assist survivors (FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 2).

Clinicians, in their encounters with patients, are particularly well-positioned to intersect with, and identify, survivors. Regrettably, such opportunities are often missed—and victims thus remain unidentified and trapped in their circumstances. A study revealed that one-half of survivors who were interviewed reported seeing a physician while they were being trafficked.²² Even more alarming, another study showed that 87.8% of survivors had received health care during their captivity.²³ It is dismaying to know that these patients left those health care settings without receiving the assistance they truly need and with their true circumstances remaining unidentified.

Read about Finding assistance and support

Finding assistance and support

Centers in the United States now provide trauma-informed care for trafficking survivors in a confidential setting (see “Specialized care is increasingly available”).²⁴ A physician who works at a center in New York City noted: “Our survivors told us that more than fear or pain, the feelings that sat with them most often were worthlessness and invisibility. We can do better as physicians and as educators to expose this epidemic and care for its victims.”²⁴

Most clinicians practice in settings that do not have easy access to such subspecialized centers, however. For them, the National Human Trafficking Hotline can be an invaluable resource (see “Hotline is a valuable resource”).²⁵ Law enforcement and social services colleagues also can be useful allies.

Let’s turn our concern and awareness into results

We, as providers of women’s health care, are uniquely positioned to help these most vulnerable of people, many of whom have been stripped of personal documents and denied access to financial resources and community support. As a medical community, we should strive to combat this tragic epidemic, 1 patient at a time.

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Photo: Shutterstock

Despite increasing media coverage of human trafficking and the gravity of its many ramifications, I am struck by how often trainees and other clinicians present to me patients for which trafficking is a real potential concern—yet who give me a blank expression when I ask if anyone has screened these patients for being victims of trafficking. I suspect that few of us anticipated, during medical training, that we would be providing care to women who are enslaved.

How large is the problem?

It is impossible to comprehend the true scope of human trafficking. Estimates are that 20.9 million men, women, and children globally are forced into work that they are not free to leave.¹

Although human trafficking is recognized as a global phenomenon, its prevalence in the United States is significant enough that it should prompt the health care community to engage in helping identify and assist victims/survivors: From January until June of 2017, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 13,807 telephone calls, resulting in reporting of 4,460 cases.² Indeed, from 2015 to 2016 there was a 35.7% increase in the number of hotline cases reported, for a total of 7,572 (6,340—more than 80%—of which regarded females). California had the most cases reported (1,323), followed by Texas (670) and Florida (550); those 3 states also reported an increase in trafficking crime. Vermont (5), Rhode Island (9), and Alaska (10) reported the fewest calls.³

How is trafficking defined?

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines “trafficking in persons” as:

… recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.⁴

Traffickers prey on potentially vulnerable people. Girls and young women who have experienced poverty, homelessness, childhood sexual abuse, substance abuse, gender nonconformity, mental illness, or developmental delay are at particular risk.⁵ Children who have had interactions with Child Protective Services, come from a dysfunctional family, or have lived in a community with high crime, political or social unrest, corruption, or gender bias and discrimination are also at increased risk.⁶

Read about clues that raise clinical suspicion

Clues that raise clinical suspicion

A number of potential signs should make providers suspicious about potential human trafficking. Some of those signs are similar to the red flags we see in intimate partner violence, such as:

• having a difficult time talking to the patient alone
• having the accompanying person answer the patient’s questions
• body language that suggests fear, anxiety, or distrust (eg, shifting positions, looking away, appearing withdrawn)
• physical examination inconsistent with the history
• physical injury (especially multiple injuries or injuries in various stages of healing)
• refusal of interpreter services.

Trafficked girls or women may appear overly familiar with sex, have unexpected material possessions, or appear to be giving scripted or memorized answers to queries.⁷ Traffickers often confiscate their victims’ personal identification. They try to prevent victims from knowing their geographic locales: Patients might not have any documentation or awareness of exact surroundings (eg, their home address). Patients may be wearing clothes considered inappropriate for the weather or venue. They may have tattoos that are marks of branding.⁸

Medical consequences of being trafficked are obvious, numerous, and serious

Many medical sequelae that result from trafficking are obvious, given the nature of work that victims are forced to do. For example, overcrowding can lead to infectious disease, such as tuberculosis.⁹ Inadequate access to preventive or basic medical services can result in weight loss, poor dentition, and untreated chronic medical conditions.

If victims are experiencing physical or sexual abuse, they can present with evidence of blunt trauma, ligature marks, skin burns, wounds inflicted by weapons, and vaginal lacerations.¹⁰ A study found that 63% of survivors reported at least 10 somatic symptoms, including headache, fatigue, dizziness, back pain, abdominal or pelvic pain, memory loss, and symptoms of genital infectious disease.¹¹

Girls and women being trafficked for sex may experience many of the sequelae of unprotected intercourse: irregular bleeding, unintended pregnancy, unwanted or unsafe pregnancy termination, vaginal trauma, and sexually transmitted infection (STI).¹² In a study of trafficking survivors, 38% were HIV-positive.¹³

Trafficking survivors can suffer myriad mental health conditions, with high rates of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and suicidal ideation.¹⁴ A study of 387 survivors found that 12% had attempted to harm themselves or commit suicide the month before they were interviewed.¹⁵

Substance abuse is also a common problem among trafficking victims.¹⁶ One survivor interviewed in a recent study said:

It was much more difficult to work sober because I was dealing with emotions or the pain that I was feeling during intercourse, because when you have sex with people 8, 9, 10 times a day, even more than that, it starts to hurt a lot. And being high made it easier to deal with that and also it made it easier for me to get away from my body while it was happening, place my brain somewhere else.¹⁷

Because of the substantial risk of mental health problems, including substance abuse, among trafficking survivors, the physical exam of a patient should include careful assessment of demeanor and mental health status. Of course, comprehensive inspection for signs of physical or blunt trauma is paramount.

Read about Patient and staff safety during the visit

Patient and staff safety during the visit

Providers should be aware of potential safety concerns, both for the patient and for the staff. Creative strategies should be utilized to screen the patient in private. The use of interpreter services—either in person or over the telephone—should be presented and facilitated as being a routine part of practice. Any person who accompanies the patient should be asked to leave the examining room, either as a statement of practice routine or under the guise of having him (or her) step out to obtain paperwork or provide documentation.

Care of victims

Trauma-informed care should be a guiding principle for trafficking survivors. This involves empowering the patient, who may feel victimized again if asked to undress and undergo multiple physical examinations. Macias-Konstantopoulos noted: “A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges the pervasiveness and effect of trauma across the life span of the individual, recognizes the vulnerabilities and emotional triggers of trauma survivors, minimizes repeated traumatization and fosters physical, psychological, and emotional safety, recovery, health and well-being.”¹⁸

The patient should be counseled that she has control over her body and can guide different aspects of the examination. For example the provider should discuss: 1) the amount of clothing deemed optimal for an examination, 2) the availability of a support person during the exam (for instance, a nurse or a social worker) if the patient requests one, and 3) utilization of whatever strategies the patient deems optimal for her to be most comfortable during the exam (such as leaving the door slightly ajar or having a mutually agreed-on signal to interrupt the exam).

Routine health care maintenance should be offered, including an assessment of overall physical and dental health and screening for STI and mental health. Screening for substances of abuse should be considered. If indicated, emergency contraception, postexposure HIV prophylaxis, immunizations, and empiric antibiotics for STI should be offered.¹⁹

Screening when indicated by evidence, suspicion, or concern

Unlike the case with intimate partner violence, experts do not recommend universal screening for human trafficking. Clinicians should be comfortable, however, trying to elicit that history when a concern arises, either because of identified risk factors, red flags, or concerns that arise from the findings of the history or physical. Ideally, clinicians should consider becoming comfortable choosing a few screening questions to regularly incorporate into their assessment. The US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) offers a list of questions that can be utilized (TABLE).²⁰

In January 2018, the Office on Trafficking in Persons, a unit of the HHS Administration for Children and Families, released an “Adult Human Trafficking Screening Tool and Guide.” The document includes 2 excellent tools²¹ that clinicians can utilize to identify patients who should be screened and how to identify and assist survivors (FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 2).

Clinicians, in their encounters with patients, are particularly well-positioned to intersect with, and identify, survivors. Regrettably, such opportunities are often missed—and victims thus remain unidentified and trapped in their circumstances. A study revealed that one-half of survivors who were interviewed reported seeing a physician while they were being trafficked.²² Even more alarming, another study showed that 87.8% of survivors had received health care during their captivity.²³ It is dismaying to know that these patients left those health care settings without receiving the assistance they truly need and with their true circumstances remaining unidentified.

Read about Finding assistance and support

Finding assistance and support

Centers in the United States now provide trauma-informed care for trafficking survivors in a confidential setting (see “Specialized care is increasingly available”).²⁴ A physician who works at a center in New York City noted: “Our survivors told us that more than fear or pain, the feelings that sat with them most often were worthlessness and invisibility. We can do better as physicians and as educators to expose this epidemic and care for its victims.”²⁴

Most clinicians practice in settings that do not have easy access to such subspecialized centers, however. For them, the National Human Trafficking Hotline can be an invaluable resource (see “Hotline is a valuable resource”).²⁵ Law enforcement and social services colleagues also can be useful allies.

Let’s turn our concern and awareness into results

We, as providers of women’s health care, are uniquely positioned to help these most vulnerable of people, many of whom have been stripped of personal documents and denied access to financial resources and community support. As a medical community, we should strive to combat this tragic epidemic, 1 patient at a time.

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Photo: Shutterstock

Despite increasing media coverage of human trafficking and the gravity of its many ramifications, I am struck by how often trainees and other clinicians present to me patients for which trafficking is a real potential concern—yet who give me a blank expression when I ask if anyone has screened these patients for being victims of trafficking. I suspect that few of us anticipated, during medical training, that we would be providing care to women who are enslaved.

How large is the problem?

It is impossible to comprehend the true scope of human trafficking. Estimates are that 20.9 million men, women, and children globally are forced into work that they are not free to leave.¹

Although human trafficking is recognized as a global phenomenon, its prevalence in the United States is significant enough that it should prompt the health care community to engage in helping identify and assist victims/survivors: From January until June of 2017, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 13,807 telephone calls, resulting in reporting of 4,460 cases.² Indeed, from 2015 to 2016 there was a 35.7% increase in the number of hotline cases reported, for a total of 7,572 (6,340—more than 80%—of which regarded females). California had the most cases reported (1,323), followed by Texas (670) and Florida (550); those 3 states also reported an increase in trafficking crime. Vermont (5), Rhode Island (9), and Alaska (10) reported the fewest calls.³

How is trafficking defined?

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines “trafficking in persons” as:

… recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.⁴

Traffickers prey on potentially vulnerable people. Girls and young women who have experienced poverty, homelessness, childhood sexual abuse, substance abuse, gender nonconformity, mental illness, or developmental delay are at particular risk.⁵ Children who have had interactions with Child Protective Services, come from a dysfunctional family, or have lived in a community with high crime, political or social unrest, corruption, or gender bias and discrimination are also at increased risk.⁶

Read about clues that raise clinical suspicion

Clues that raise clinical suspicion

A number of potential signs should make providers suspicious about potential human trafficking. Some of those signs are similar to the red flags we see in intimate partner violence, such as:

• having a difficult time talking to the patient alone
• having the accompanying person answer the patient’s questions
• body language that suggests fear, anxiety, or distrust (eg, shifting positions, looking away, appearing withdrawn)
• physical examination inconsistent with the history
• physical injury (especially multiple injuries or injuries in various stages of healing)
• refusal of interpreter services.

Trafficked girls or women may appear overly familiar with sex, have unexpected material possessions, or appear to be giving scripted or memorized answers to queries.⁷ Traffickers often confiscate their victims’ personal identification. They try to prevent victims from knowing their geographic locales: Patients might not have any documentation or awareness of exact surroundings (eg, their home address). Patients may be wearing clothes considered inappropriate for the weather or venue. They may have tattoos that are marks of branding.⁸

Medical consequences of being trafficked are obvious, numerous, and serious

Many medical sequelae that result from trafficking are obvious, given the nature of work that victims are forced to do. For example, overcrowding can lead to infectious disease, such as tuberculosis.⁹ Inadequate access to preventive or basic medical services can result in weight loss, poor dentition, and untreated chronic medical conditions.

If victims are experiencing physical or sexual abuse, they can present with evidence of blunt trauma, ligature marks, skin burns, wounds inflicted by weapons, and vaginal lacerations.¹⁰ A study found that 63% of survivors reported at least 10 somatic symptoms, including headache, fatigue, dizziness, back pain, abdominal or pelvic pain, memory loss, and symptoms of genital infectious disease.¹¹

Girls and women being trafficked for sex may experience many of the sequelae of unprotected intercourse: irregular bleeding, unintended pregnancy, unwanted or unsafe pregnancy termination, vaginal trauma, and sexually transmitted infection (STI).¹² In a study of trafficking survivors, 38% were HIV-positive.¹³

Trafficking survivors can suffer myriad mental health conditions, with high rates of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and suicidal ideation.¹⁴ A study of 387 survivors found that 12% had attempted to harm themselves or commit suicide the month before they were interviewed.¹⁵

Substance abuse is also a common problem among trafficking victims.¹⁶ One survivor interviewed in a recent study said:

It was much more difficult to work sober because I was dealing with emotions or the pain that I was feeling during intercourse, because when you have sex with people 8, 9, 10 times a day, even more than that, it starts to hurt a lot. And being high made it easier to deal with that and also it made it easier for me to get away from my body while it was happening, place my brain somewhere else.¹⁷

Because of the substantial risk of mental health problems, including substance abuse, among trafficking survivors, the physical exam of a patient should include careful assessment of demeanor and mental health status. Of course, comprehensive inspection for signs of physical or blunt trauma is paramount.

Read about Patient and staff safety during the visit

Patient and staff safety during the visit

Providers should be aware of potential safety concerns, both for the patient and for the staff. Creative strategies should be utilized to screen the patient in private. The use of interpreter services—either in person or over the telephone—should be presented and facilitated as being a routine part of practice. Any person who accompanies the patient should be asked to leave the examining room, either as a statement of practice routine or under the guise of having him (or her) step out to obtain paperwork or provide documentation.

Care of victims

Trauma-informed care should be a guiding principle for trafficking survivors. This involves empowering the patient, who may feel victimized again if asked to undress and undergo multiple physical examinations. Macias-Konstantopoulos noted: “A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges the pervasiveness and effect of trauma across the life span of the individual, recognizes the vulnerabilities and emotional triggers of trauma survivors, minimizes repeated traumatization and fosters physical, psychological, and emotional safety, recovery, health and well-being.”¹⁸

The patient should be counseled that she has control over her body and can guide different aspects of the examination. For example the provider should discuss: 1) the amount of clothing deemed optimal for an examination, 2) the availability of a support person during the exam (for instance, a nurse or a social worker) if the patient requests one, and 3) utilization of whatever strategies the patient deems optimal for her to be most comfortable during the exam (such as leaving the door slightly ajar or having a mutually agreed-on signal to interrupt the exam).

Routine health care maintenance should be offered, including an assessment of overall physical and dental health and screening for STI and mental health. Screening for substances of abuse should be considered. If indicated, emergency contraception, postexposure HIV prophylaxis, immunizations, and empiric antibiotics for STI should be offered.¹⁹

Screening when indicated by evidence, suspicion, or concern

Unlike the case with intimate partner violence, experts do not recommend universal screening for human trafficking. Clinicians should be comfortable, however, trying to elicit that history when a concern arises, either because of identified risk factors, red flags, or concerns that arise from the findings of the history or physical. Ideally, clinicians should consider becoming comfortable choosing a few screening questions to regularly incorporate into their assessment. The US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) offers a list of questions that can be utilized (TABLE).²⁰

In January 2018, the Office on Trafficking in Persons, a unit of the HHS Administration for Children and Families, released an “Adult Human Trafficking Screening Tool and Guide.” The document includes 2 excellent tools²¹ that clinicians can utilize to identify patients who should be screened and how to identify and assist survivors (FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 2).

Clinicians, in their encounters with patients, are particularly well-positioned to intersect with, and identify, survivors. Regrettably, such opportunities are often missed—and victims thus remain unidentified and trapped in their circumstances. A study revealed that one-half of survivors who were interviewed reported seeing a physician while they were being trafficked.²² Even more alarming, another study showed that 87.8% of survivors had received health care during their captivity.²³ It is dismaying to know that these patients left those health care settings without receiving the assistance they truly need and with their true circumstances remaining unidentified.

Read about Finding assistance and support

Finding assistance and support

Centers in the United States now provide trauma-informed care for trafficking survivors in a confidential setting (see “Specialized care is increasingly available”).²⁴ A physician who works at a center in New York City noted: “Our survivors told us that more than fear or pain, the feelings that sat with them most often were worthlessness and invisibility. We can do better as physicians and as educators to expose this epidemic and care for its victims.”²⁴

Most clinicians practice in settings that do not have easy access to such subspecialized centers, however. For them, the National Human Trafficking Hotline can be an invaluable resource (see “Hotline is a valuable resource”).²⁵ Law enforcement and social services colleagues also can be useful allies.

Let’s turn our concern and awareness into results

We, as providers of women’s health care, are uniquely positioned to help these most vulnerable of people, many of whom have been stripped of personal documents and denied access to financial resources and community support. As a medical community, we should strive to combat this tragic epidemic, 1 patient at a time.

Share your thoughts! Send your Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. Please include your name and the city and state in which you practice.

Citation: Middleton P, Shepherd E, Crowther CA. Induction of labour for improving birth outcomes for women at or beyond term. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;5:CD004945.

Citation: Middleton P, Shepherd E, Crowther CA. Induction of labour for improving birth outcomes for women at or beyond term. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;5:CD004945.

Citation: Middleton P, Shepherd E, Crowther CA. Induction of labour for improving birth outcomes for women at or beyond term. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;5:CD004945.

All parents-to-be, especially first-time parents, should visit a pediatrician during the third trimester of pregnancy to establish a relationship, according to an updated clinical report on the prenatal visit issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The report was published online June 25 and in the July issue of Pediatrics.

“It’s a chance to talk about how to keep a baby safe and thriving physically, but also ways to build strong parent-child bonds that promote resilience and help a child stay emotionally healthy,” Michael Yogman, MD, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, said in a statement. Dr. Yogman was the lead author of the report and chair of the AAP Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health.

Vesnaandjic/E+/Getty Images

A comprehensive prenatal visit gives pediatricians the opportunity to meet four objectives: build a trusting relationship with parents, gather information about family history, provide advice and guidance on infant care and safety, and identify risk factors for psychosocial issues such as perinatal depression, according to the report in Pediatrics.

The prenatal visit allows families and clinicians to learn whether their philosophies align to start a relationship that may last for many years and this visit can include extended family members such as grandparents. In addition, pediatricians can use the prenatal visit as an opportunity to learn more about family history including past pregnancies, failed and successful, as well as pregnancy complications, chronic medical conditions in family members that may affect the home environment, and plans for child care if parents will be working outside the home.

The report also emphasizes “positive parenting” and the role of pediatricians at a prenatal visit in offering support and guidance to help prepare parents for infant care. This guidance may include advice on feeding, sleeping, diapering, and bathing, as well as acknowledging cultural practices.

The authors noted that a prime opporunity to schedule the prenatal visit is when an expectant parent seeking information about insurance, practice hours, and whether the practice is taking new patients.

The AAP advises clinicians to encourage same sex parents, parents expecting via surrogate, and parents who are adopting to schedule a prenatal visit to identify particular concerns they may have.

“This is the only routine child wellness visit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics that doesn’t actually require a child in the room,” coauthor Arthur Lavin, MD, also of Harvard Medical School, said in a statement.

The prenatal visit “gives parents an opportunity to really focus on any questions and concerns they may have. They can talk with a pediatrician before the fatigue of new parenthood sets in and there’s an adorably distracting little human in their arms who may be crying, spitting up, or in immediate need of feeding or a diaper change,” Dr. Lavin said.

“At its heart and soul,” Dr. Lavin noted, “this visit is about laying a foundation for a trusting, supportive relationship between the family and their pediatrician, who will work together to keep the child healthy for the next 18 or 20 years.”

The report recommends the Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, Fourth Edition, as a resource for clinicians. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.

SOURCE: Yogman M et al. Pediatrics. 2018; doi: 10.1542/peds. 2018-1218

All parents-to-be, especially first-time parents, should visit a pediatrician during the third trimester of pregnancy to establish a relationship, according to an updated clinical report on the prenatal visit issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The report was published online June 25 and in the July issue of Pediatrics.

“It’s a chance to talk about how to keep a baby safe and thriving physically, but also ways to build strong parent-child bonds that promote resilience and help a child stay emotionally healthy,” Michael Yogman, MD, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, said in a statement. Dr. Yogman was the lead author of the report and chair of the AAP Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health.

Vesnaandjic/E+/Getty Images

A comprehensive prenatal visit gives pediatricians the opportunity to meet four objectives: build a trusting relationship with parents, gather information about family history, provide advice and guidance on infant care and safety, and identify risk factors for psychosocial issues such as perinatal depression, according to the report in Pediatrics.

The prenatal visit allows families and clinicians to learn whether their philosophies align to start a relationship that may last for many years and this visit can include extended family members such as grandparents. In addition, pediatricians can use the prenatal visit as an opportunity to learn more about family history including past pregnancies, failed and successful, as well as pregnancy complications, chronic medical conditions in family members that may affect the home environment, and plans for child care if parents will be working outside the home.

The report also emphasizes “positive parenting” and the role of pediatricians at a prenatal visit in offering support and guidance to help prepare parents for infant care. This guidance may include advice on feeding, sleeping, diapering, and bathing, as well as acknowledging cultural practices.

The authors noted that a prime opporunity to schedule the prenatal visit is when an expectant parent seeking information about insurance, practice hours, and whether the practice is taking new patients.

The AAP advises clinicians to encourage same sex parents, parents expecting via surrogate, and parents who are adopting to schedule a prenatal visit to identify particular concerns they may have.

“This is the only routine child wellness visit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics that doesn’t actually require a child in the room,” coauthor Arthur Lavin, MD, also of Harvard Medical School, said in a statement.

The prenatal visit “gives parents an opportunity to really focus on any questions and concerns they may have. They can talk with a pediatrician before the fatigue of new parenthood sets in and there’s an adorably distracting little human in their arms who may be crying, spitting up, or in immediate need of feeding or a diaper change,” Dr. Lavin said.

“At its heart and soul,” Dr. Lavin noted, “this visit is about laying a foundation for a trusting, supportive relationship between the family and their pediatrician, who will work together to keep the child healthy for the next 18 or 20 years.”

The report recommends the Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, Fourth Edition, as a resource for clinicians. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.

SOURCE: Yogman M et al. Pediatrics. 2018; doi: 10.1542/peds. 2018-1218

All parents-to-be, especially first-time parents, should visit a pediatrician during the third trimester of pregnancy to establish a relationship, according to an updated clinical report on the prenatal visit issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The report was published online June 25 and in the July issue of Pediatrics.

“It’s a chance to talk about how to keep a baby safe and thriving physically, but also ways to build strong parent-child bonds that promote resilience and help a child stay emotionally healthy,” Michael Yogman, MD, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, said in a statement. Dr. Yogman was the lead author of the report and chair of the AAP Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health.

Vesnaandjic/E+/Getty Images

A comprehensive prenatal visit gives pediatricians the opportunity to meet four objectives: build a trusting relationship with parents, gather information about family history, provide advice and guidance on infant care and safety, and identify risk factors for psychosocial issues such as perinatal depression, according to the report in Pediatrics.

The prenatal visit allows families and clinicians to learn whether their philosophies align to start a relationship that may last for many years and this visit can include extended family members such as grandparents. In addition, pediatricians can use the prenatal visit as an opportunity to learn more about family history including past pregnancies, failed and successful, as well as pregnancy complications, chronic medical conditions in family members that may affect the home environment, and plans for child care if parents will be working outside the home.

The report also emphasizes “positive parenting” and the role of pediatricians at a prenatal visit in offering support and guidance to help prepare parents for infant care. This guidance may include advice on feeding, sleeping, diapering, and bathing, as well as acknowledging cultural practices.

The authors noted that a prime opporunity to schedule the prenatal visit is when an expectant parent seeking information about insurance, practice hours, and whether the practice is taking new patients.

The AAP advises clinicians to encourage same sex parents, parents expecting via surrogate, and parents who are adopting to schedule a prenatal visit to identify particular concerns they may have.

“This is the only routine child wellness visit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics that doesn’t actually require a child in the room,” coauthor Arthur Lavin, MD, also of Harvard Medical School, said in a statement.

The prenatal visit “gives parents an opportunity to really focus on any questions and concerns they may have. They can talk with a pediatrician before the fatigue of new parenthood sets in and there’s an adorably distracting little human in their arms who may be crying, spitting up, or in immediate need of feeding or a diaper change,” Dr. Lavin said.

“At its heart and soul,” Dr. Lavin noted, “this visit is about laying a foundation for a trusting, supportive relationship between the family and their pediatrician, who will work together to keep the child healthy for the next 18 or 20 years.”

The report recommends the Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, Fourth Edition, as a resource for clinicians. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.

SOURCE: Yogman M et al. Pediatrics. 2018; doi: 10.1542/peds. 2018-1218

ORLANDO – Longer-term data are providing more evidence of a possible link between maternal diabetes and autism spectrum disorder in their children.

Anny Xiang, PhD, and coathors with Kaiser Permanente of Southern California sought to further understand the possible effect of maternal T1D on offspring’s development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by expanding the cohort and timeline of their earlier work (JAMA. 2015;313(14):1425-1434).

The current study includes data on to 419,425 children (51% boys) born at Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals from 1995-2012. The children were followed for a median of 6.9 years, through 2017.

A total of 621 children were exposed in utero to T1D , 9,453 to T2D, 11,922 to gestational diabetes diagnosed by 26 weeks, and 24,505 to gestational diabetes diagnosed after 26 weeks.

Across the cohort, 1.3% of children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The rate was barely different, at 1.5%, for those whose mothers developed gestational diabetes after 26 weeks. But rates of ASD were higher – 3.1%, 2.5%, 2.1% – among those whose mothers had T1D, T2D, and gestational diabetes that developed at 26 weeks or earlier, respectively. The findings were adjusted for co-founders such as birth year, age at delivery, eduction level and income, Dr. Xiang said at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

Compared to offspring of mothers without diabetes, ASD was more common in the children of mothers with T1D (adjusted HR=2.36, 95% CI, 1.36-4.12) mothers with type 2 diabetes (AHR= 1.45, 95% CI, 1.24-1.70) and gestational diabetes mellitus that developed by 26 weeks gestation (1.30, 95% CI, 1.12-1.51).

The numbers remained similar after they were adjusted for smoking during pregnancy and prepregnancy BMI, statistics which were available for about 36% of the subjects, according to the findings which were published simultaneously in JAMA (June 23, 2018. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.7614).

Possible explanations for the link between ASD and maternal diabetes include maternal glycemic control, prematurity, and levels of neonatal hypoglycemia, Dr. Xiang said.

The results do not take into account any paternal risks for offspring developing ASD, which also includes diabetes, Dr. Xiang said, noting that two previous studies linked diabetes in fathers to ASD, although to a lesser extent than diabetes in mothers. (Epidemiology. 2010 Nov;21(6):805-8; Pediatrics. 2009 Aug;124(2):687-94)

The study also doesn’t take breastfeeding into account, Dr. Xiang noted. A 2016 study found that women with T2D were less likely to breastfeed (J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2016;29(15):2513-8), and some research has suggested that breastfeeding may be protective against the development of ASD in children (Nutrition 2012;28(7-8):e27-32).

In addition, the study doesn’t track maternal glucose levels over time.

Session co-chair Peter Damm, MD, professor of obstetrics at the University of Copenhagen, said in an interview that he is impressed by the study. He cautioned, however, that it does not prove a connection.“This not a proof, but it seems likely, or like a possibility,” he said.

One possible explanation for a diabetes/ASD connection is the fact that the fetal brain is evolving throughout pregnancy unlike other body organs, which simply grow after developing in the first trimester, he said. As a result, glucose levels may affect the brain’s development in a unique way compared to other organs.

SOURCE: Xiang A, et al. ADA 2018 Abstract OR-117.

ORLANDO – Longer-term data are providing more evidence of a possible link between maternal diabetes and autism spectrum disorder in their children.

Anny Xiang, PhD, and coathors with Kaiser Permanente of Southern California sought to further understand the possible effect of maternal T1D on offspring’s development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by expanding the cohort and timeline of their earlier work (JAMA. 2015;313(14):1425-1434).

The current study includes data on to 419,425 children (51% boys) born at Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals from 1995-2012. The children were followed for a median of 6.9 years, through 2017.

A total of 621 children were exposed in utero to T1D , 9,453 to T2D, 11,922 to gestational diabetes diagnosed by 26 weeks, and 24,505 to gestational diabetes diagnosed after 26 weeks.

Across the cohort, 1.3% of children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The rate was barely different, at 1.5%, for those whose mothers developed gestational diabetes after 26 weeks. But rates of ASD were higher – 3.1%, 2.5%, 2.1% – among those whose mothers had T1D, T2D, and gestational diabetes that developed at 26 weeks or earlier, respectively. The findings were adjusted for co-founders such as birth year, age at delivery, eduction level and income, Dr. Xiang said at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

Compared to offspring of mothers without diabetes, ASD was more common in the children of mothers with T1D (adjusted HR=2.36, 95% CI, 1.36-4.12) mothers with type 2 diabetes (AHR= 1.45, 95% CI, 1.24-1.70) and gestational diabetes mellitus that developed by 26 weeks gestation (1.30, 95% CI, 1.12-1.51).

The numbers remained similar after they were adjusted for smoking during pregnancy and prepregnancy BMI, statistics which were available for about 36% of the subjects, according to the findings which were published simultaneously in JAMA (June 23, 2018. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.7614).

Possible explanations for the link between ASD and maternal diabetes include maternal glycemic control, prematurity, and levels of neonatal hypoglycemia, Dr. Xiang said.

The results do not take into account any paternal risks for offspring developing ASD, which also includes diabetes, Dr. Xiang said, noting that two previous studies linked diabetes in fathers to ASD, although to a lesser extent than diabetes in mothers. (Epidemiology. 2010 Nov;21(6):805-8; Pediatrics. 2009 Aug;124(2):687-94)

The study also doesn’t take breastfeeding into account, Dr. Xiang noted. A 2016 study found that women with T2D were less likely to breastfeed (J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2016;29(15):2513-8), and some research has suggested that breastfeeding may be protective against the development of ASD in children (Nutrition 2012;28(7-8):e27-32).

In addition, the study doesn’t track maternal glucose levels over time.

Session co-chair Peter Damm, MD, professor of obstetrics at the University of Copenhagen, said in an interview that he is impressed by the study. He cautioned, however, that it does not prove a connection.“This not a proof, but it seems likely, or like a possibility,” he said.

One possible explanation for a diabetes/ASD connection is the fact that the fetal brain is evolving throughout pregnancy unlike other body organs, which simply grow after developing in the first trimester, he said. As a result, glucose levels may affect the brain’s development in a unique way compared to other organs.

SOURCE: Xiang A, et al. ADA 2018 Abstract OR-117.

ORLANDO – Longer-term data are providing more evidence of a possible link between maternal diabetes and autism spectrum disorder in their children.

Anny Xiang, PhD, and coathors with Kaiser Permanente of Southern California sought to further understand the possible effect of maternal T1D on offspring’s development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by expanding the cohort and timeline of their earlier work (JAMA. 2015;313(14):1425-1434).

The current study includes data on to 419,425 children (51% boys) born at Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals from 1995-2012. The children were followed for a median of 6.9 years, through 2017.

A total of 621 children were exposed in utero to T1D , 9,453 to T2D, 11,922 to gestational diabetes diagnosed by 26 weeks, and 24,505 to gestational diabetes diagnosed after 26 weeks.

Across the cohort, 1.3% of children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The rate was barely different, at 1.5%, for those whose mothers developed gestational diabetes after 26 weeks. But rates of ASD were higher – 3.1%, 2.5%, 2.1% – among those whose mothers had T1D, T2D, and gestational diabetes that developed at 26 weeks or earlier, respectively. The findings were adjusted for co-founders such as birth year, age at delivery, eduction level and income, Dr. Xiang said at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

Compared to offspring of mothers without diabetes, ASD was more common in the children of mothers with T1D (adjusted HR=2.36, 95% CI, 1.36-4.12) mothers with type 2 diabetes (AHR= 1.45, 95% CI, 1.24-1.70) and gestational diabetes mellitus that developed by 26 weeks gestation (1.30, 95% CI, 1.12-1.51).

The numbers remained similar after they were adjusted for smoking during pregnancy and prepregnancy BMI, statistics which were available for about 36% of the subjects, according to the findings which were published simultaneously in JAMA (June 23, 2018. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.7614).

Possible explanations for the link between ASD and maternal diabetes include maternal glycemic control, prematurity, and levels of neonatal hypoglycemia, Dr. Xiang said.

The results do not take into account any paternal risks for offspring developing ASD, which also includes diabetes, Dr. Xiang said, noting that two previous studies linked diabetes in fathers to ASD, although to a lesser extent than diabetes in mothers. (Epidemiology. 2010 Nov;21(6):805-8; Pediatrics. 2009 Aug;124(2):687-94)

The study also doesn’t take breastfeeding into account, Dr. Xiang noted. A 2016 study found that women with T2D were less likely to breastfeed (J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2016;29(15):2513-8), and some research has suggested that breastfeeding may be protective against the development of ASD in children (Nutrition 2012;28(7-8):e27-32).

In addition, the study doesn’t track maternal glucose levels over time.

Session co-chair Peter Damm, MD, professor of obstetrics at the University of Copenhagen, said in an interview that he is impressed by the study. He cautioned, however, that it does not prove a connection.“This not a proof, but it seems likely, or like a possibility,” he said.

One possible explanation for a diabetes/ASD connection is the fact that the fetal brain is evolving throughout pregnancy unlike other body organs, which simply grow after developing in the first trimester, he said. As a result, glucose levels may affect the brain’s development in a unique way compared to other organs.

SOURCE: Xiang A, et al. ADA 2018 Abstract OR-117.

NSAID use around the time of conception is associated with a high risk of miscarriage, and a statistically significant dose-response relationship in which the risk increased at a greater duration of exposure was established in a case-control study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The cohorts in the study were NSAID users, acetaminophen-only users, and controls exposed to neither NSAIDs or acetaminophen. The reasoning for including the acetaminophen cohort is that the drug has a similar indication but does not inhibit prostaglandin biosynthesis, as NSAIDs do. Prostaglandin is important for implantation in early pregnancy. The basic facts of what NSAIDs do and how implantation works have led to theories about miscarriage risk, but previous studies have not been conclusive, said De-Kun Li, MD, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente, and his coauthors.

Denise Fulton/MDedge News

[email protected]

SOURCE: Li DK et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Jun. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.06.002.

NSAID use around the time of conception is associated with a high risk of miscarriage, and a statistically significant dose-response relationship in which the risk increased at a greater duration of exposure was established in a case-control study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The cohorts in the study were NSAID users, acetaminophen-only users, and controls exposed to neither NSAIDs or acetaminophen. The reasoning for including the acetaminophen cohort is that the drug has a similar indication but does not inhibit prostaglandin biosynthesis, as NSAIDs do. Prostaglandin is important for implantation in early pregnancy. The basic facts of what NSAIDs do and how implantation works have led to theories about miscarriage risk, but previous studies have not been conclusive, said De-Kun Li, MD, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente, and his coauthors.

Denise Fulton/MDedge News

[email protected]

SOURCE: Li DK et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Jun. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.06.002.

NSAID use around the time of conception is associated with a high risk of miscarriage, and a statistically significant dose-response relationship in which the risk increased at a greater duration of exposure was established in a case-control study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The cohorts in the study were NSAID users, acetaminophen-only users, and controls exposed to neither NSAIDs or acetaminophen. The reasoning for including the acetaminophen cohort is that the drug has a similar indication but does not inhibit prostaglandin biosynthesis, as NSAIDs do. Prostaglandin is important for implantation in early pregnancy. The basic facts of what NSAIDs do and how implantation works have led to theories about miscarriage risk, but previous studies have not been conclusive, said De-Kun Li, MD, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente, and his coauthors.

Denise Fulton/MDedge News

[email protected]

SOURCE: Li DK et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Jun. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.06.002.

Vitamin D status does not appear to have any effect on the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, regardless of a woman’s genetic risk profile for vitamin D deficiency.

Writing in the June 21 online edition of the BMJ, researchers reported the results of one- and two-sample mendelian randomization analyses of two pregnancy cohort studies and two case-control studies.

Overall, 7,389 women were included in the one-sample mendelian randomization analysis – 751 with gestational hypertension and 135 with preeclampsia. The two-sample analysis included 3,388 women with preeclampsia and 6,059 controls.

In a conventional multivariable analysis, researchers saw a 3% increase in the relative risk of preeclampsia for each 10% decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. However, there was a doubling of risk in women whose 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were below 25 nmol/L, compared with those with levels at or above 75 nmol/L, but no effect seen for gestational hypertension.

However, in the one-sample mendelian randomization analysis – using genetic risk score as an instrument – the authors saw no clear sign of a linear relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia.

The two-sample mendelian randomization analysis showed an odds ratio for preeclampsia of 0.98 per 10% decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D level.

“We explored the association between the genetic instruments and intake of vitamin D supplements because, if women with lower genetically predicted 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are more likely to take supplements, this could theoretically distort our findings,” wrote Maria C. Magnus, PhD, of the Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol (England) and her coauthors.

They noted that the proportion of women taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy differed between the two cohorts, which may have reflected cultural, socioeconomic, or policy difference.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine currently recommends that pregnant and lactating women have a dietary intake of 600 IU (15 mcg) of vitamin D per day.

While this study found no strong evidence to support a causal effect of vitamin D status on the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, the study’s authors suggested similar studies with larger numbers of women with preeclampsia were still needed to definitely establish this.

The study was supported by the European Union and the Research Council of Norway. One author declared funding from the pharmaceutical industry for unrelated research, and several authors declared funding from other institutions. No conflicts of interest were declared.

SOURCE: Magnus MC et al. BMJ. 2018 Jun 21. doi: 10.1136/bmj.k2167.

Vitamin D status does not appear to have any effect on the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, regardless of a woman’s genetic risk profile for vitamin D deficiency.

Writing in the June 21 online edition of the BMJ, researchers reported the results of one- and two-sample mendelian randomization analyses of two pregnancy cohort studies and two case-control studies.

Overall, 7,389 women were included in the one-sample mendelian randomization analysis – 751 with gestational hypertension and 135 with preeclampsia. The two-sample analysis included 3,388 women with preeclampsia and 6,059 controls.

In a conventional multivariable analysis, researchers saw a 3% increase in the relative risk of preeclampsia for each 10% decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. However, there was a doubling of risk in women whose 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were below 25 nmol/L, compared with those with levels at or above 75 nmol/L, but no effect seen for gestational hypertension.

However, in the one-sample mendelian randomization analysis – using genetic risk score as an instrument – the authors saw no clear sign of a linear relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia.

The two-sample mendelian randomization analysis showed an odds ratio for preeclampsia of 0.98 per 10% decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D level.

“We explored the association between the genetic instruments and intake of vitamin D supplements because, if women with lower genetically predicted 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are more likely to take supplements, this could theoretically distort our findings,” wrote Maria C. Magnus, PhD, of the Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol (England) and her coauthors.

They noted that the proportion of women taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy differed between the two cohorts, which may have reflected cultural, socioeconomic, or policy difference.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine currently recommends that pregnant and lactating women have a dietary intake of 600 IU (15 mcg) of vitamin D per day.

While this study found no strong evidence to support a causal effect of vitamin D status on the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, the study’s authors suggested similar studies with larger numbers of women with preeclampsia were still needed to definitely establish this.

The study was supported by the European Union and the Research Council of Norway. One author declared funding from the pharmaceutical industry for unrelated research, and several authors declared funding from other institutions. No conflicts of interest were declared.

SOURCE: Magnus MC et al. BMJ. 2018 Jun 21. doi: 10.1136/bmj.k2167.

Vitamin D status does not appear to have any effect on the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, regardless of a woman’s genetic risk profile for vitamin D deficiency.

Writing in the June 21 online edition of the BMJ, researchers reported the results of one- and two-sample mendelian randomization analyses of two pregnancy cohort studies and two case-control studies.

Overall, 7,389 women were included in the one-sample mendelian randomization analysis – 751 with gestational hypertension and 135 with preeclampsia. The two-sample analysis included 3,388 women with preeclampsia and 6,059 controls.

In a conventional multivariable analysis, researchers saw a 3% increase in the relative risk of preeclampsia for each 10% decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. However, there was a doubling of risk in women whose 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were below 25 nmol/L, compared with those with levels at or above 75 nmol/L, but no effect seen for gestational hypertension.

However, in the one-sample mendelian randomization analysis – using genetic risk score as an instrument – the authors saw no clear sign of a linear relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia.

The two-sample mendelian randomization analysis showed an odds ratio for preeclampsia of 0.98 per 10% decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D level.

“We explored the association between the genetic instruments and intake of vitamin D supplements because, if women with lower genetically predicted 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are more likely to take supplements, this could theoretically distort our findings,” wrote Maria C. Magnus, PhD, of the Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol (England) and her coauthors.

They noted that the proportion of women taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy differed between the two cohorts, which may have reflected cultural, socioeconomic, or policy difference.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine currently recommends that pregnant and lactating women have a dietary intake of 600 IU (15 mcg) of vitamin D per day.

While this study found no strong evidence to support a causal effect of vitamin D status on the risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, the study’s authors suggested similar studies with larger numbers of women with preeclampsia were still needed to definitely establish this.

The study was supported by the European Union and the Research Council of Norway. One author declared funding from the pharmaceutical industry for unrelated research, and several authors declared funding from other institutions. No conflicts of interest were declared.

SOURCE: Magnus MC et al. BMJ. 2018 Jun 21. doi: 10.1136/bmj.k2167.