Successful pregnancy in women with inferior vena cava stenosis — case report and discussion

Objectives: Inferior vena cava syndrome (IVCS) is a heterogenous group of symptoms resulting in obstruction of the mainvein inflow . Common reasons are thrombotic changes and tumors. Incidence of inferior vena cava (IVC) anomalies is 0.3%in general population. Iatrogenic IVC lesions caused by catheter insertion play increasing role. Treatment varies dependingon the condition.Material and methods: 32-year old patient was diagnosed with IVC stenosis during infertility related preconceptionevaluation and informed about increased risk in planned pregnancy. Throughout the well progressing pregnancy patientreceived low molecular weight heparin.Results: The diagnosis was confirmed intraoperatively during the planned cesarean section. Early postpartum period wasnormal and patient was discharged with antithrombotic prophylaxis.Conclusions: Isolated IVC stenosis in pregnancy has not been yet reported in medical literature. Even though IVC anomaliesmay be associated with other congenital changes, in this case the central venous line treatment in infancy seems to be themost likely cause. Malformations are often accidentally diagnosed because patients are usually asymptomatic. CT and MRIare recommended diagnostic tools. Conservative treatment is recommended for asymptomatic patients, as opposed tosurgical treatment for symptomatic. However, due to condition's rarity, there is no evidence based approach management

Płodowa niedoczynność tarczycy z wolem — łatwo rozpoznać, trudno leczyć. Czy podawanie doowodniowe i dożylne L-tyroksyny jest jedną z opcji terapeutycznych?

Introduction: Foetal hypothyroidism negatively impacts somatic and neurological child development and can be the cause of serious obstetric and perinatal complications. We present a rare case of a large foetal dyshormonogenetic goitre, causing foetal neck hyperexten­sion, oesophageal compression, and cardiac high-output failure. Material and methods: A foetal goitre complicated by cardiomegaly and polyhydramnios was diagnosed at 23 weeks of gestation (WG) on a routine ultrasonographic (US) assessment in a healthy nullipara. Foetal blood sampling was performed and a severe foetal hypothyroid­ism was diagnosed. Treatment was undertaken with an intra-amniotic followed by combined intra-amniotic and intravenous injections of L-thyroxine (L–T4). A total of 11 doses of L–T4 were administered between 24–37 WG to the foetus. Results: A complete regression of foetal goitre, cardiomegaly, and polyhydramnios was observed. At 38 WG the patient delivered vagi­nally a male infant with mild hypothyroidism and no signs of goitre or cardiomegaly on postnatal US. Neurological development of the one year old baby is normal. Conclusions: The effective diminishing of serum TSH concentration and goitre size was reached after combined intra-amniotic and in­travenous L–T4 injections were given. L–T4 requirement in the foetus is equal to or above 15 μg/kg daily and should be given in weekly intervals due to its rapid metabolism by the foetus and by placental type 3 deiodinase. Intra-amniotic L–T4 administration may be inef­fective when a large goitre indisposes amniotic fluid swallowing by the foetus, so then the combined L–T4 injections into the umbilical vein and intra-amniotically in experienced hands seems to be a reasonable and effective option.  Wstęp: Przedstawiamy rzadki przypadek wola dyshormonogenetycznego u płodu leczonego l-tyroksyną in utero. Niedoczynność tarczy­cy w okresie życia płodowego zaburza rozwój somatyczny i intelektualny dziecka. Obecność wola powodującego odgięciowe ułożenie głowy, ucisk przełyku oraz niewydolność serca w mechanizmie krążenia hiperkinetycznego może sama w sobie być przyczyną groźnych powikłań położniczych i okołoporodowych. Materiał i metody: U zdrowej pierwiastki w trakcie rutynowego badania ultrasonograficznego przeprowadzonego w 23 tygodniu ciąży stwierdzono wole płodowe, kardiomegalię i wielowodzie. Wykonano kordocentezę stwierdzając ciężką płodową niedoczynność tarczycy. Podjęto leczenie l-tyroksyną (L–T4) podawaną początkowo doowodniowo a następnie metodą jednoczesnych iniekcji doowodniowych i do żyły pępowinowej. W okresie od 24–37 tygodnia ciąży podano łącznie 11 dwek L–T4. Wyniki: Uzyskano całkowitą regresję wola i kardiomegalii, a w 38 tygodniu ciąży nastąpił poród fizjologiczny. U noworodka stwierdzono niedoczynność tarczycy o niewielkim nasileniu, natomiast w badaniu ultrasonograficznym nie obserwowano cech wola, ani niewydol­ności serca. Wnioski: Istotne zmniejszenie stężenia TSH w krwi pępowinowej i rozmiarów wola uzyskano dopiero po jednoczesnym podawaniu L–T4 doowodniowo i do żyły pępowinowej. Wydaje się, że zapotrzebowanie płodu na L–T4 wynosi powyżej 15 μg/kg/d. Lek powinien być podawany co tydzień z powodu jego szybkiego metabolizowania przez płód i dejodynazę łożyskową typu 3. Stosowanie L–T4 wyłącznie doowodniowo może być nieskuteczne w przypadku dużego wola utrudniającego połykanie płynu owodniowego: w takich przypadkach dodatkowe podawanie leku do żyły pępowinowej przez doświadczony zespół wydaje się skuteczną i bezpieczną opcją terapeutyczną

Compliance with gestational weight gain recommendations in a cross-sectional study of term pregnancies — how far reality falls from the standard?

Objectives: During pregnancy, two aspects are critical in the context of adverse perinatal outcomes (APO): preconception obesity and gestational weight gain. This study aimed to assess compliance with the 2009 IOM guidelines, compare GWG with and without correcting for gestation duration, and observe the relationship between pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG and neonatal birth weight. Material and methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted from 2015-2018 at the St. Sophia's Specialist Hospital in Warsaw, Poland. Self-reported pre-pregnancy and predelivery weight were collected. Results: The presented data set amounts to 7820 records. Analysis of weight gain compliance with IOM recommendations showed that only 41–44% (depending on the calculation method) of women had weight gain in accordance with IOM guidelines (22–23% — below; 33–37% — above). Overweight and obese women with diabetes are more likely to comply with IOM than women without diabetes. In contrast, women with normal-weight and underweight with diabetes are less likely to achieve IOM weight gain in pregnancy than women without diabetes. Women who have GWG below recommendations significantly more often gave birth to SGA neonates, and women who exceeded GWG standards significantly more often gave birth to LGA neonates. Conclusions: Less than half of women had GWG within the recommended norms. Statistically significant differences were found in methods of calculation of GWG, but it was not found clinically significant. Correction for pregnancy duration when calculating GWG reclassifies two percent of patients. We underestimate the risk of crossing the line between overweight and obesity during pregnancy

Molecular Pathways of Altered Brain Development in Fetuses Exposed to Hypoxia

Perinatal hypoxia is a major cause of neurodevelopmental impairment and subsequent motor and cognitive dysfunctions; it is associated with fetal growth restriction and uteroplacental dysfunction during pregnancy. This review aims to present the current knowledge on brain development resulting from perinatal asphyxia, including the causes, symptoms, and means of predicting the degree of brain damage. Furthermore, this review discusses the specificity of brain development in the growth-restricted fetus and how it is replicated and studied in animal models. Finally, this review aims at identifying the least understood and missing molecular pathways of abnormal brain development, especially with respect to potential treatment intervention

Emergency cerclage using double-level versus single-level suture in the management of cervical insufficiency (Cervical Occlusion double-level Stitch Application, COSA): study protocol for a multicentre, non-blinded, randomised controlled trial

Introduction Cervical insufficiency accounts for 15% of recurrent pregnancy losses between 16 and 28 weeks of gestation. The aim of the study is to verify the effectiveness of emergency double-level cerclage with vaginal progesterone in cervical insufficiency treatment in terms of the prevention of preterm delivery before 34 weeks of gestation.Methods and analysis This trial is a multicentre, non-blinded, randomised study with 1:1 allocation ratio. The study is conducted at tertiary perinatal care departments in Poland. It will include patients with cervical insufficiency with the fetal membranes visible in the open cervical canal or protruding into the vagina between 16+0 and 23+6 weeks of pregnancy. They will be randomised into two arms: emergency single-level cerclage with vaginal progesterone or double-level cerclage with vaginal progesterone. All will be administered antibiotics and indomethacin. The primary outcome is the rate of deliveries below 34+0 weeks of gestation, while secondary outcomes include gestational age at delivery, neonatal outcomes, maternal outcomes according to the Core Outcome Set for Evaluation of Interventions to Prevent Preterm Birth and cerclage procedure complications. The planned number of participants according to the power analysis is 78.Ethics and dissemination The study protocol was written in accordance with the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials statement. It was created according to the requirements of the Declaration of Helsinki for Medical Research involving Human Subject. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education (no. 1/2022). The study protocol was approved and published by ClinicalTrials.gov (posted on 24 February 2022). All participants gave a written informed consent. After completion of the study its results will be published in a peer-reviewed English language journal.Trial registration NCT05268640