Mosaic Trisomy 16 Confined to Placenta: Pregnancy Outcome and Postnatal Follow up

The mother was a 29-year-old Caucasian healthy woman gravida 1, para 0 and she was referred to prenatal diagnosis to S..

Daylight Saving Time and Spontaneous Deliveries: A Case–Control Study in Italy

(1) Background: Although the current literature shows that daylight saving time (DST) may play a role in human health and behavior, this topic has been poorly investigated with reference to Obstetrics. The aim of this case–control study was to evaluate whether DST may influence the number of spontaneous deliveries. (2) Methods: A low-risk pregnancy cohort with spontaneous onset of labor (n = 7415) was analyzed from a single Italian region for the period 2016–2018. Primary outcome was the number of spontaneous deliveries. Secondary outcomes were: gestational age at delivery, type and time of delivery, use of analgesia, birth weight, and 5-min Apgar at delivery. We compared the outcomes in the two weeks after DST (cases) to the two weeks before DST (controls). (3) Results: Data showed no significant difference between the number of deliveries occurring before and after DST (Chi-square = 0.546, p = 0.46). Vaginal deliveries at any gestational age showed no statistical difference between the two groups (Chi-square = 0.120, p = 0.73). There were no significant differences in the secondary outcomes, as well. (4) Conclusions: DST has neither a significant impact on the number of deliveries nor on the obstetric variables investigated by this study

Human Papillomaviruses and genital co-infections in gynaecological outpatients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High grade HPV infections and persistence are the strongest risk factors for cervical cancer. Nevertheless other genital microorganisms may be involved in the progression of HPV associated lesions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cervical samples were collected to search for human Papillomavirus (HPV), bacteria and yeast infections in gynaecologic outpatients. HPV typing was carried out by PCR and sequencing on cervical brush specimens. <it>Chlamydia trachomatis </it>was identified by strand displacement amplification (SDA) and the other microorganisms were detected by conventional methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this cross-sectional study on 857 enrolled outpatients, statistical analyses revealed a significant association of HPV with <it>C. trachomatis </it>and <it>Ureaplasma urealyticum (</it>at high density) detection, whereas no correlation was found between HPV infection and bacterial vaginosis, <it>Streptococcus agalactiae</it>, yeasts, <it>Trichomonas vaginalis </it>and <it>U. urealyticum</it>. <it>Mycoplasma hominis </it>was isolated only in a few cases both in HPV positive and negative women and no patient was infected with <it>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although bacterial vaginosis was not significantly associated with HPV, it was more common among the HPV positive women. A significant association between HPV and <it>C. trachomatis </it>was found and interestingly also with <it>U. urealyticum </it>but only at a high colonization rate. These data suggest that it may be important to screen for the simultaneous presence of different microorganisms which may have synergistic pathological effects.</p

The Role of Melatonin in Pregnancy and the Health Benefits for the Newborn

In the last few years, there have been significant evolutions in the understanding of the hormone melatonin in terms of its physiology, regulatory role, and potential utility in various domains of clinical medicine. Melatonin&rsquo;s properties include, among others, the regulation of mitochondrial function, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and neuro-protective effects, sleep promotion and immune enhancement. As it is also bioavailable and has little or no toxicity, it has been proposed as safe and effective for the treatment of numerous diseases and to preserve human health. In this manuscript, we tried to evaluate the role of melatonin at the beginning of human life, in pregnancy, in the fetus and in newborns through newly published literature studies

Ultrasound Findings of Fetal Infections: Current Knowledge

Infectious diseases during pregnancy are still a major cause of fetal mortality and morbidity worldwide. The most common teratogenic pathogens are cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), rubeovirus, parvovirus B19, herpes simplex virus (HSV), Toxoplasma gondii, Treponema pallidum and the emergent Zika virus (ZIKV). Ultrasound findings include cerebral anomalies, orbital defects, micrognathia, cardiac defects, hepatosplenomegaly, liver calcifications, abdominal anomalies, skin and limb anomalies, edema, placental and amniotic fluid anomalies and altered Doppler analyses. The classification of ultrasound markers of congenital infections by anatomical region is reported to guide differential diagnosis and prenatal care

Ultrasound Findings of Fetal Infections: Current Knowledge

Infectious diseases during pregnancy are still a major cause of fetal mortality and morbidity worldwide. The most common teratogenic pathogens are cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), rubeovirus, parvovirus B19, herpes simplex virus (HSV), Toxoplasma gondii, Treponema pallidum and the emergent Zika virus (ZIKV). Ultrasound findings include cerebral anomalies, orbital defects, micrognathia, cardiac defects, hepatosplenomegaly, liver calcifications, abdominal anomalies, skin and limb anomalies, edema, placental and amniotic fluid anomalies and altered Doppler analyses. The classification of ultrasound markers of congenital infections by anatomical region is reported to guide differential diagnosis and prenatal care

Direct sequencing of HPV DNA detected in. gynaecologic outpatients in Rome, Italy

In order to assess the frequency of different human papillomavirus (HPV) types in Rome and the association between HPV and behavioural characteristics, we tested cervical scrapes of a population of sexually active women referring to university clinics for routine gynaecologic care. The presence of HPV DNA was revealed by polymerase chain reaction on two genome regions (L1 and E6/E7) followed by sequencing. Thirty different HPV types were identified; HPV 16 was the most prevalent (14.18%), followed by HPV 53 (9.21%), HPV 58 (7.80%), HPV 6 and 66 (both 5.67%) whereas all the other genotypes ranged below 5%. In univariate analysis the characteristics significantly associated with HPV DNA detection were the youngest age (P < 0.01), the high number of lifetime partners (P < 0.001) and the smoking habit (P < 0.01). In multiple logistic regression analyses, the characteristics significantly associated with HPV DNA detection remained the younger age and the higher number of lifetime sexual partners. This study may be interesting in order to evaluate the circulation of HPV genotypes in Italy and to add a contribution to anti-cancer vaccine development. *VERTERAMO R. and *PIERANGELI A. contributed equally to this work