Impact of Gamma COVID-19 variant on the prognosis of hospitalized pregnant and postpartum women with cardiovascular disease.

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the Gamma coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) variant on pregnant and postpartum women with Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).

Methods: The Influenza Epidemiological Surveillance System database (SIVEP-Gripe), a compulsory notification system for cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), was investigated for notified cases of pregnant and postpartum women with reported CVD and SARS due to COVID-19 between February 16, 2020 and May 1, 2021 (when vaccination began), was investigated. In this retrospective cohort, two groups were formed based on symptom onset date, according to the predominance of the variants: original (group 2020) and Gamma (group 2021).

Correction: Maternal mortality associated with COVID-19 in Brazil in 2020 and 2021: Comparison with non-pregnant women and men.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Cardiovascular diseases worsen the maternal prognosis of COVID-19.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are a risk factor for severe cases of COVID-19. There are no studies evaluating whether the presence of CVD in pregnant and postpartum women with COVID-19 is associated with a worse prognosis. In an anonymized open database of the Ministry of Health, we selected cases of pregnant and postpartum women who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 infection and with data regarding their CVD status.

COVID-19: Impact of Original, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron Variants of SARS-CoV-2 in Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Pregnant and Postpartum Women.

This study compares the clinical characteristics and disease progression among vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnant and postpartum women who tested positive for different variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using the Brazilian epidemiological data. Data of pregnant or postpartum patients testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 and presenting with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from February 2020 to July 2022 were extracted from Brazilian national database. The patients were grouped based on vaccination status and viral variant (original, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron variants), and their demographics, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, symptoms, and outcomes were compared retrospectively.

Association between preterm births and socioeconomic development: analysis of national data.

Background: The increasing prevalence of preterm birth, which is a global phenomenon, is attributable to the increased medical indications, artificial gestations, and some socioeconomic factors. This study was conducted to identify whether development and equality indices are associated with the incidence of preterm birth, specifically, spontaneous and elective preterm births.

Methods: This retrospective observational study comprised an analysis of data on live births from 2019 in Brazil and on socioeconomic indices that were derived from census information in 2017.

Demographic and epidemiological characteristics of pregnant and postpartum women who died from severe acute respiratory syndrome in Brazil: A retrospective cohort study comparing COVID-19 and nonspecific etiologic causes.

The objective of this study is to compare the demographic characteristics and symptoms in pregnant and postpartum women who died from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused by COVID-19 or by nonspecific cause in different states of Brazil. This is a retrospective cohort study and the analysis was conducted on SARS death records between 02/16/2020 and 04/17/2021, obtained from the Information System for the Epidemiological Surveillance of Influenza (Sistema de Informação da Vigilância Epidemiológica da Gripe, SIVEP-Gripe). Pregnant and postpartum women, aged between 10 and 55 years, who died from SARS, were included and classified into two groups: SARS due to confirmed COVID-19 or SARS due to nonspecific cause.

The Effect of Being Pregnant during Respiratory Pandemics: A Comparison between 2009/10 Flu and 2020/21 COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil.

Pregnant women undergo physiological changes that make them a challenging group of patients during pandemic respiratory diseases, as previously found during H1N1 2009 pandemic and recently ratified in COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis on 5888 hospitalized women for H1N1 flu pandemic (2190 pregnant and 3698 non-pregnant) and 64,515 hospitalized women for COVID-19 pandemic (5151 pregnant and 59,364 non-pregnant), from the Brazilian national database, to compare demographic profile, clinical aspects, and mortality in childbearing aged women during both pandemics. Additionally, the effect of being pregnant was compared between both pandemics.

The Influenza Vaccine May Protect Pregnant and Postpartum Women against Severe COVID-19.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has imposed a huge challenge on the antenatal care of pregnant women worldwide, with the maternal mortality rate being raised to alarming levels. While COVID-19 vaccines were developed, some studies highlighted a possible relationship between influenza vaccination and lower odds of COVID-19 infection. As obstetric patients belong to a high-risk group for respiratory diseases, this study evaluated whether influenza vaccination reduces the severity of COVID-19 infection and mortality among pregnant and postpartum women.

Maternal mortality associated with COVID-19 in Brazil in 2020 and 2021: Comparison with non-pregnant women and men.

Objective: Mortality rates of pregnant and postpartum women grew in the second COVID-19 pandemic year. Our objective is to understand this phenomenon to avoid further deaths.

Methods: We collected data from SIVEP-Gripe, a nationwide Brazilian database containing surveillance data on all severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by COVID-19, between the first notified case (February 2020) until the 17th epidemiological week of 2021.

COVID-19 outcomes in hospitalized puerperal, pregnant, and neither pregnant nor puerperal women.

Objective: To compare hospitalized reproductive age women with COVID-19 who were pregnant, puerperal, or neither one nor the other in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics and disease progression using Brazilian epidemiological data.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the records of the Information System of the Epidemiological Surveillance of Influenza of the Health Ministry of Brazil was performed. It included the data of female patients aged 10 to 49 years hospitalized because of severe COVID-19 disease (RT-PCR+ for SARS-CoV-2), from February 17, 2020 to January 02, 2021.

Expression of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors at the implantation site in ampullary ectopic pregnancies.

Objective: This study investigated the qualitative and semi-quantitative expression of metalloproteinases (MMP) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMP) in trophoblastic tissue during ampullary ectopic pregnancies and correlated that expression with the degree of tubal invasion.

Study Design: It is a prospective study that included 34 patients diagnosed with ampullary tubal pregnancy who underwent salpingectomy. A histological evaluation of the depth of trophoblastic invasion in the tubes obtained was performed.

Data Science: Measuring Uncertainties.

With the increase in data processing and storage capacity, a large amount of data is available [...

Association between exposure to air pollution during intrauterine life and cephalic circumference of the newborn.

It has been observed that air pollution can affect newborn health due to the negative effects of pollutants on pregnancy development. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of maternal exposure to urban air pollution on head circumference (HC) at birth. Reduced head growth during pregnancy may be associated with neurocognitive deficits in childhood.

Kidney impairment in fetal growth restriction: three-dimensional evaluation of volume and vascularization.

Objectives: Renal development is impaired in fetal growth restriction (FGR). Renal size can be considered a surrogate of renal function in childhood, and could be impaired in that condition. Our aim was to evaluate the ratio of total renal volume, measured by three-dimensional ultrasound, to estimated fetal weight (TRV/EFW) among fetuses with and without growth restriction.

Women's Obstetric History and Midtrimester Cervical Length Measurements by 2D/3D and Doppler Ultrasound.

Objective:  The aim of the present study was to compare the obstetric history and both two- and tri-dimensional ultrasound parameters according to different cervical lengths.

Methods:  The present cross-sectional study analyzed 248 midtrimester pregnant women according to cervical length and compared the data with the obstetric history and 2D/3D ultrasound parameters. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to cervical length: The Short Cervix group for cervical lengths ≥ 15 mm and < 25 mm ( = 68), the Very Short Cervix group for cervical lengths < 15 mm ( = 18) and the Control group, composed of 162 pregnant women with uterine cervical lengths ≥ 25 mm.

Risk factors for gastroschisis: A case-control study in a Brazilian population.

Objective: To evaluate risk factors associated with fetal gastroschisis.

Methods: As a secondary aim of a larger case-control study, pregnant women attending the Fetal Medicine Unit at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hospital das Clinicas, Sao Paulo University Medical School between July 1, 2013, and July 31, 2015, were allocated into either the gastroschisis group, where the woman was carrying a fetus with gastroschisis, or the control group, where the fetus was normal. Patients in the control group were matched at study entry for maternal age, preconception body mass index and weeks of gestation.

Longitudinal study of individually adjusted fetal growth.

Objective: To construct individualized fetal growth curves estimated by ultrasound parameters adjusted for maternal and fetal characteristics.

Methods: Data were retrospectively assessed from serial ultrasonographic examinations of singleton pregnancies at 12-42 gestational weeks among women without maternal or fetal conditions and full-term delivery at the University Hospital of University of São Paulo between July 1, 2014, and December 31, 2017. Measurements included biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length.

Maternal nutrient intake and fetal gastroschisis: A case-control study.

Fetal gastroschisis is a paraumbilical abdominal wall defect with herniation of the abdominal organs. This multifactorial malformation occurs in young pregnant women, and the underlying cause of the disease remains unknown; however, nutritional factors may play a role in its development. This case-control study explored the association of maternal nutrient intake with the occurrence of gastroschisis.

Emergency cerclage: gestational and neonatal outcomes.

Background: The gestational and neonatal outcomes of women with early cervical dilatation undergoing emergency cerclage were evaluated and compared with women treated with expectant management and bed rest.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of pregnant women admitted between 2001 and 2017 with a diagnosis of early cervical dilatation and/or bulging membranes. Patients with a singleton pregnancy of a fetus without malformations, between 16 and 25 weeks and 6 days, with cervical dilatation of 1 to 3 cm were included; patients who delivered or miscarried within 2 days after admission were excluded.

Comparative analysis of Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1, placental alpha-microglobulin-1, phenol and pH for the diagnosis of preterm premature rupture of membranes between 20 and 36 weeks.

Aim: Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is responsible for approximately one-third of premature births worldwide, and although the diagnosis is often straightforward, this condition can still present difficulties. The purpose of this research was to compare the accuracy of several PPROM diagnostic tests.

Methods: A total of 94 pregnant women with clinical suspicion of PPROM who were between 20 and 36 weeks of pregnancy were examined by vaginal speculum, and tests were performed for phenol, pH, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) and placental alpha-microglobulin-1 (PAMG-1).

Defective regression models for cure rate modeling with interval-censored data.

Regression models in survival analysis are most commonly applied for right-censored survival data. In some situations, the time to the event is not exactly observed, although it is known that the event occurred between two observed times. In practice, the moment of observation is frequently taken as the event occurrence time, and the interval-censored mechanism is ignored.

An unfavorable intrauterine environment may determine renal functional capacity in adulthood: a meta-analysis.

Since studies show that an unfavorable environment during intrauterine development predisposes individuals to several diseases in adulthood, our objective is to assess the relation between fetal growth restriction and chronic renal disease in adults. We searched four different electronic databases through November 2017: CENTRAL, EMBASE, LILACS and MEDLINE. We selected studies with longitudinal or transversal designs associating kidney function in adulthood with low birth weight.