Descriptive Epidemiology of Chronic Hypertension, Gestational Hypertension, and Preeclampsia in New York State, 1995–2004

We examined social, demographic, and behavioral predictors of specific forms of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy in New York State. Administrative data on 2.3 million births over the period 1995–2004 were available for New York State, USA, with linkage to birth certificate data for New York City (964,071 births). ICD-9 hospital discharge diagnosis codes were used to assign hypertensive disorders hierarchically as chronic hypertension, chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia, preeclampsia (eclampsia/severe or mild), or gestational hypertension. Sociodemographic and behavioral predictors of these outcomes were examined separately for upstate New York and New York City by calculating adjusted odds ratios. The most commonly diagnosed conditions were preeclampsia (2.57 % of upstate New York births, 3.68 % of New York City births) and gestational hypertension (2.46 % of upstate births, 1.42 % of New York City births). Chronic hypertension was much rarer. Relative to non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics in New York City and Black women in all regions had markedly increased risks for all hypertensive disorders, whereas Asian women were at consistently decreased risk. Pregnancy-associated conditions decreased markedly with parity and modestly among smokers. A strong positive association was found between pre-pregnancy weight and risk of hypertensive disorders, with slightly weaker associations among Blacks and stronger associations among Asians. While patterns of chronic and pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders differed, the predictors of gestational hypertension and both mild and severe preeclampsia were similar to one another. The increased risk for Black and some Hispanic women warrants clinical consideration, and the markedly increased risk with greater pre-pregnancy weight suggests an opportunity for primary prevention among all ethnic groups

Chorioamnionitis: Case definition & guidelines for data collection, analysis, and presentation of immunization safety data

Chorioamnionitis is a term encompassing a broad spectrum of disease during pregnancy that is characterized by inflammation and/or infection of intrauterine structures such as the placenta, the chorion and amnion. The clinical presentation of chorioamnionitis can vary based on clinical, microbiologic, and histologic factors which interact and overlap to varying degrees

Acute pain pathways:protocol for a prospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Opioid analgesics are often used to treat moderate-to-severe acute non-cancer pain; however, there is little high-quality evidence to guide clinician prescribing. An essential element to developing evidence-based guidelines is a better understanding of pain management and pain control among individuals experiencing acute pain for various common diagnoses. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This multicentre prospective observational study will recruit 1550 opioid-naïve participants with acute pain seen in diverse clinical settings including primary/urgent care, emergency departments and dental clinics. Participants will be followed for 6 months with the aid of a patient-centred health data aggregating platform that consolidates data from study questionnaires, electronic health record data on healthcare services received, prescription fill data from pharmacies, and activity and sleep data from a Fitbit activity tracker. Participants will be enrolled to represent diverse races and ethnicities and pain conditions, as well as geographical diversity. Data analysis will focus on assessing patients’ patterns of pain and opioid analgesic use, along with other pain treatments; associations between patient and condition characteristics and patient-centred outcomes including resolution of pain, satisfaction with care and long-term use of opioid analgesics; and descriptive analyses of patient management of leftover opioids. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has received approval from IRBs at each site. Results will be made available to participants, funders, the research community and the public. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04509115

Large for Gestational Age and Risk for Academic Delays and Learning Disabilities: Assessing Modification by Maternal Obesity and Diabetes

The objective of this study was to examine academic delays for children born large for gestational age (LGA) and assess effect modification by maternal obesity and diabetes and then to characterize risks for LGA for those with a mediating condition. Cohort data were obtained from the New York City Longitudinal Study of Early Development, linking birth and educational records (n = 125,542). Logistic regression was used to compare children born LGA (>90th percentile) to those born appropriate weight (5–89th percentile) for risk of not meeting proficiency on assessments in the third grade and being referred to special education. Among children of women with gestational diabetes, children born LGA had an increased risk of underperforming in mathematics (ARR: 1.18 (95% CI: 1.07–1.31)) and for being referred for special education (ARR: 1.18 (95% CI: 1.02–1.37)). Children born LGA but of women who did not have gestational diabetes had a slightly decreased risk of academic underperformance (mathematics-ARR: 0.94 (95% CI: 0.90–0.97); Language arts-ARR: 0.96 (95% CI: 0.94–0.99)). Children born to women with gestational diabetes with an inadequate number of prenatal care visits were at increased risk of being born LGA, compared to those receiving extensive care (ARR: 1.67 (95% CI: 1.20–2.33)). Children born LGA of women with diabetes were at increased risk of delays; greater utilization of prenatal care among these diabetic women may decrease the incidence of LGA births

Potassium chloride-induced fetal demise: a retrospective cohort study of efficacy and safety

Induction of fetal demise before second-trimester termination is performed for a number of reasons. One method for inducing fetal demise is via sonographically guided intracardiac potassium chloride (KCl) injection. We performed a retrospective cohort study to determine the efficacy and safety of intracardiac KCl injection as a method of second-trimester induced fetal demise. We reviewed records from patients who were referred for induced fetal demise from October 2002 to October 2011. We excluded patients undergoing selective fetal reduction in multiple gestations. Procedural complications, the dose of KCl, and the number of failed procedures were determined. Of the 192 completed procedures, 191 were successful (99.5%). The median gestational age at termination was 22 weeks (range, 15.4-24.9 weeks), and most terminations were surgical (68.0%). Major indications for termination were fetal anomalies (41.6%), unwanted pregnancy (20.8%), and aneuploidy (15.7%). The median dose of KCl was 10 mL (range, 3-40 mL). We found a significant correlation between the dose of KCl and estimated fetal weight. There was no significant correlation between the dose of KCl and body mass index or gestational age. We had 1 maternal complication of a seizure after needle placement but before KCl injection. Intracardiac KCl injection is an effective and safe method for induced fetal demise

Postpartum anticoagulation in women with mechanical heart valves.

BackgroundWomen with mechanical heart valves (MHV) requiring anticoagulation (AC) are at high risk for hemorrhagic complications. Despite guidelines to manage antenatal and peripartum AC, there are few evidence-based recommendations to guide the initiation of postpartum AC. We reviewed our institutional experience of pregnant women with MHV to lay the groundwork for recommendations of immediate postpartum AC therapy.Study designThis descriptive retrospective cohort used ICD-9 and -10 codes to identify pregnant women with MHV on AC at the Yale-New Haven Hospital from 2007 to 2018. All identified patients were confirmed by chart review. Delivery hospitalization and the immediate postpartum AC management were reviewed. Maternal complications recorded were postpartum hemorrhage, transfusion, wound hematoma, intra-abdominal bleeding, stroke, valve thrombosis, and death. Further, immediate neonatal outcomes were detailed.ResultsForty-two pregnant women with nonnative heart valves were identified during the study period. From those pregnant women, nine had an MHV and were anticoagulated throughout gestation. Of 19 total pregnancies, 14 met the inclusion criteria. The median gestational age of the delivered pregnancies was early term (37w2d). Nine deliveries were via cesarean (64%). The median time to restart AC after birth was 6 hours. After six deliveries (43%), AC was initiated ≤6 hours postpartum. Hemorrhagic complications occurred in six cases (43%), including wound and intra-abdominal hematomas. Four cases (29%) required blood transfusion. No maternal strokes, thrombotic events, or deaths were recorded. Five (38.5%) neonates required admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.ConclusionMHV in pregnancy was rare but was associated with significant maternal morbidity, particularly postpartum hemorrhagic complications. We noted significant variability in the timing of restarting postpartum AC and in the selected agents. Pooled institutional data and an interdisciplinary approach are recommended to minimize competing risks and sequelae of valve thrombosis and obstetrical hemorrhage and, thereby, to optimize maternal outcomes and develop evidence-based guidelines for postpartum AC management