Pediatrics

Although serial amnioreduction is still widely used to treat this dangerous condition, a recent randomized trial found that when compared to amnioreduction at 15 to 26 weeks, overall perinatal survival is higher with laser ablation, which tries to reverse the disease process.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) lowers IVF success by more than 50%, according to the findings of a prospective study of 106 women.

Conference Highlights

Be frank about the real and potential complications when counseling patients considering assisted reproductive technologies. The list includes the link between multiple gestations and preterm delivery, the possibility of ectopic pregnancies or malformations-and much more.

Do you remember bringing something to school for "show and tell" when you were a child? That's what I did recently, only it wasn't a game. I was teaching basic medicine, obstetrics, and gynecology to medical students, lay midwives, and physicians in Liberia.

Be frank about the real and potential complications when counseling patients considering assisted reproductive technologies. The list includes the link between multiple gestations and preterm delivery, the possibility of ectopic pregnancies or malformations-and much more.

Second-born twins are at significantly greater risk for serious perinatal morbidity than first-born twins at all gestational ages, according to the results of a retrospective cohort study conducted in Nova Scotia. And the higher risk prevails regardless of presentation, chorionicity, or infant sex.

The risk of developing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is greater among people who weighed less than 1,500 g at birth compared to those who weighed more than 1,500 g, and patients with a lower birthweight tend to develop the condition earlier than their heavier counterparts, according to study findings published online Sept. 28 in Gut.

Clinical situations that typically result in litigation and the variation in jury verdicts and awards across the nation.

Reimbursement for the HPV vaccine; Dealing with sales reps; ER coverage

While most ob/gyns can recite a long list of risk factors for this lethal complication, mounting evidence suggests that maternal hypotension should be taken into account as well.

Clinical situations that typically result in litigation and the variation in jury verdicts and awards across the nation.

The majority of Americans are in favor of using a newly approved vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus, according to The Wall Street Journal (8/8/2006). About 70% of Americans agree that girls and young women should be encouraged to receive the HPV vaccine to prevent the spread of cervical cancer, while 7% disagreed and 23% were not sure.

The rate of nares colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is low in obstetric populations, according to two presentations at this year's annual IDSOG meeting. Although the rate of MRSA colonization is estimated to be 6% to 8% in new hospital admissions, the rate of colonization in obstetric populations was 2% in both studies, performed by Dr. Mara Dinsmoor at Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Ill. and by Dr. Richard Beigi at Cleveland Metro Health Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The study from Illinois reported that over 50% of the colonized mothers had risk factors for MRSA colonization. There was one case of MRSA sepsis in a neonate born to a colonized woman, but the two strains of MRSA were genetically distinct, arguing against vertical transmission from mother to baby.

Waiting 2 minutes-rather than 10 seconds-after delivery of an infant's shoulders to clamp the umbilical cord of normal-weight, full-term infants helps prevent iron deficiency from developing before 6 months of age, according to the results of a randomized, controlled trial involving almost 400 mother-infant pairs in Mexico City

Weekly doses of prenatal steroids do not improve overall outcome and are associated with lower birthweight and smaller size for gestational age compared to a single dose, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The DeLee device has been around for more than 30 years, and with it the theory that mechanical suction at delivery can help prevent MAS. The latest evidence paints a different picture.

One in eight women of reproductive age has trouble getting pregnant. Knowing what drug treatments are available and how to use them can help you improve patient outcomes.

Although most cases of mild-to-moderate maternal disease are caused by gestational thrombocytopenia and rarely cause problems, the OB is obliged to rule out more serious causes. And for far-less-common fetal disease, these experts help you differentiate the potentially life-threatening fetal alloimmune thrombocytopenia from a benign drop in platelet count.

Hospital groups nationwide are adopting programs and policies aimed at making childbirth safer. The move comes in the wake of soaring liability insurance premiums for obstetric units, as well as mounting evidence that labor-inducing drugs and other delivery room practices are endangering mothers and infants, according to the Wall Street Journal (7/12/2006).

It seems so according to a report from tje office of U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. The report notes that crisis pregnancy centers that are federally funded receive monies funneled through the abstinence-only-until-marriage program. It also found that 87% of these centers provided "false and misleading information about the physical and mental health effects of abortion and exaggerated the medical risks of abortion," reported the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists government relations newsletter Inside Scoop (07/21/2006).

Mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have overweight or obese children than mothers who do not smoke during pregnancy, according to a new longitudinal analysis.

In June, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first vaccine developed to protect women against cervical cancer. Known as Gardasil and developed by Merck & Co., the drug is highly effective against four types of human papillomavirus, including two that cause cervical cancer.

In the management of Rh-alloimmunized pregnancies, Doppler ultrasonography (U/S) of the middle cerebral artery is superior to amniocentesis in predicting fetal anemia and is a safe alternative for monitoring such pregnancies, according to a study in the July 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Supplementation with the antioxidant vitamins C and E during pregnancy doesn't reduce the risks of preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, infant death, or other serious infant outcomes in nulliparous women, according to the results of a recent multicenter, randomized trial. In fact, women taking the vitamins may be more likely to develop hypertension and to require treatment with antihypertensive drugs.

A leading expert helps you educate yourself-and your patients-about putting combined HPV-Pap testing into practice. Patient education should stress how common HPV is and explain the high level of reassurance testing negative on both tests affords.

You can accurately test for Neisseria gonorrheae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) using the same liquid Pap specimens collected for cervical cytology, researchers from University of Oklahoma college of Medicine in Tulsa have concluded.