Maternal death after oocyte donation at high maternal age: Case report

Background. The percentage of women giving birth after the age of 35 increased in many western countries. The number of women remaining childless also increased, mostly due to aging oocytes. The method of oocyte donation offers the possibility for infertile older women to become pregnant. Gestation after oocyte-donation-IVF, however, is not without risks for the mother, especially at advanced age. Case presentation. An infertile woman went abroad for oocyte-donation-IVF, since this treatment is not offered in The Netherlands after the age of 45. The first oocyte donation treatment resulted in multiple gestation, but was ended by induced abortion: the woman could not cope with the idea of being pregnant with twins. During the second pregnancy after oocyte donation, at the age of 50, she was mentally more stable. The pregnancy, again a multiple gestation, was uneventful until delivery. Immediately after delivery the woman had hypertension with nausea and vomiting. A few hours later she had an eclamptic fit. HELLP-syndrome was diagnosed. She died due to cerebral haemorrhage. Conclusion. In The Netherlands, the age limit for women receiving donor oocytes is 45 years and commercial oocyte donation is forbidden by law. In other countries there is no age limit, the reason why some women are going abroad to receive the treatment of their choice. Advanced age, IVF and twin pregnancy are all risk factors for pre-eclampsia, the leading cause of maternal death in The Netherlands. Patient autonomy is an important ethical principle, but doctors are also bound to the principle of 'not doing harm', and do have the right to refuse medical treatment such as IVF-treatment. The discussion whether women above 50 should have children is still not closed. If the decision is made to offer this treatment to a woman at advanced age, the doctor should counsel her intensively about the risks before treatment is started

Regional differences in severe postpartum hemorrhage: A nationwide comparative study of 1.6 million deliveries

Background: The incidence of severe postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is increasing. Regional variation may be attributed to variation in provision of care, and as such contribute to this increasing incidence. We assessed reasons for regional variation in severe PPH in the Netherlands. Methods: We used the Netherlands Perinatal Registry and the Dutch Maternal Mortality Committee to study severe PPH incidences (defined as blood loss ≥ 1000 mL) across both regions and neighborhoods of cities among all deliveries between 2000 and 2008. We first calculated crude incidences. We then used logistic multilevel regression analyses, with hospital or midwife practice as second level to explore further reasons for the regional variation. Results: We analyzed 1599867 deliveries in which the incidence of severe PPH was 4.5%. Crude incidences of severe PPH varied with factor three between regions while between neighborhoods variation was even larger. We could not explain regional variation by maternal characteristics (age, parity, ethnicity, socioeconomic status), pregnancy characteristics (singleton, gestational age, birth weight, pre-eclampsia, perinatal death), medical interventions (induction of labor, mode of delivery, perineal laceration, placental removal) and health care setting. Conclusions: In a nationwide study in The Netherlands, we observed wide practice variation in PPH. This variation could not be explained by maternal characteristics, pregnancy characteristics, medical interventions or health care setting. Regional variation is either unavoidable or subsequent to regional variation of a yet unregistered variable

Development and clinical evaluation of a 3-step modified manipulation protocol for MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound of uterine fibroids

__Objectives:__ The clinical applicability of magnetic resonance image−guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) treatment of uterine fibroids is often limited due to inaccessible fibroids or bowel interference. The aim of this study was to implement a newly developed 3-step modified manipulation protocol and to evaluate its influence on the number of eligible women and treatment fai

Use of multiparametric MRI to characterize uterine fibroid tissue types

Background: Although the biological characteristics of uterine fibroids (UF) have implications for therapy choice and effectiveness, there is limited MRI data about these characteristics. Currently, the Funaki classification and Scale