Prenatal screening after preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy: time to evaluate old strategies.

Research Question: How does first-trimester aneuploidy screening perform in pregnancies achieved through IVF with preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) in a medical setting?

Design: This retrospective cohort study was undertaken in a single tertiary care centre between January 2013 and June 2022. In total, 20,237 women had prenatal follow-up at the study centre and were included in the study. The women were divided into three groups: singleton pregnancies conceived through the transfer of a PGT-A-screened euploid embryo (n = 510); singleton pregnancies conceived through IVF without PGT-A (n = 3291); and singleton pregnancies conceived naturally (n = 16,436).

Assessment of fetal cardiac function in early fetal life: feasibility, reproducibility, and early fetal nomograms.

Background: Fetal cardiology has shown a rapid development in the past decades. Fetal echocardiography is not only used for the detection of structural anomalies but also to assess fetal cardiac function. Assessment of the fetal cardiac function is performed mostly in the second and third trimesters.

Prevalence of corpus callosum pathology in an unselected population. Should assessment of the corpus callosum be included in the routine 20 weeks scan?

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of abnormalities of the corpus callosum (AbnCC) in a non-selected population, to propose a systematic screening protocol for AbnCC in all populations through direct assessment, and to describe the follow-up and prognosis of all AbnCC cases diagnosed in our clinical setting.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of the prevalence of AbnCC over 11 years. We included a sagittal assessment of the corpus callosum (CC) in the second-trimester scan.

External validation of Fetal Medicine Foundation competing-risks model for midgestation prediction of small-for-gestational-age neonates in Spanish population.

Objective: To examine the external validity of the new Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) competing-risks model for prediction in midgestation of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) neonates.

Methods: This was a single-center prospective cohort study of 25 484 women with a singleton pregnancy undergoing routine ultrasound examination at 19 + 0 to 23 + 6 weeks' gestation. The FMF competing-risks model for the prediction of SGA combining maternal factors and midgestation estimated fetal weight by ultrasound scan (EFW) and uterine artery pulsatility index (UtA-PI) was used to calculate risks for different cut-offs of birth-weight percentile and gestational age at delivery.

Fetal Megacystis: Associated Structural Abnormalities and Obstetric Outcomes.

We evaluated the obstetrical outcomes, ultrasonographic characteristics, and final diagnosis in pregnancies with fetal megacystis (FM). We evaluated the obstetrical outcomes and associated structural abnormalities of fetuses with FM detected between FM between 2000 and 2021. 17 FM were diagnosed, 16 had follow up.

"Screening for small-for-gestational age neonates at early third trimester in a high-risk population for preeclampsia".

Background: Strategies to improve prenatal detection of small-for-gestational age (SGA) neonates are necessary because its association with poorer perinatal outcome. This study evaluated, in pregnancies with first trimester high risk of early preeclampsia, the performance of a third trimester screening for SGA combining biophysical and biochemical markers.

Methods: This is a prospective longitudinal study on 378 singleton pregnancies identified at high risk of early preeclampsia according to a first trimester multiparametric algorithm with the cutoff corresponding to 15% false positive rate.

Strategies for the prediction of late preeclampsia.

To evaluate different strategies for the prediction of late preeclampsia. A retrospective study was undertaken. A predictive model including maternal parameters (maternal age, maternal BMI, maternal history of preeclampsia or intrauterine growth restriction (PE/IUGR) or maternal chronic disease, and maternal arterial pressure) and mean pulsatility index (PI) of uterine Doppler was created.

Serum activin A and follistatin levels in gestational diabetes and the association of the Activin A-Follistatin system with anthropometric parameters in offspring.

Context: The Activin A-Follistatin system has emerged as an important regulator of lipid and glucose metabolism with possible repercussions on fetal growth.

Objective: To analyze circulating activin A, follistatin and follistatin-like-3 (FSTL3) levels and their relationship with glucose metabolism in pregnant women and their influence on fetal growth and neonatal adiposity.

Design And Methods: A prospective cohort was studied comprising 207 pregnant women, 129 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and 78 with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring.

Maternal and cord blood adiponectin multimeric forms in gestational diabetes mellitus: a prospective analysis.

Objective: To analyze the relationship between maternal adiponectin (mAdiponectin) and cord blood adiponectin (cbAdiponectin) multimeric forms (high molecular weight [HMW], medium molecular weight [MMW], and low molecular weight [LMW]) in a cohort of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and normal glucose-tolerant (NGT) pregnant women.

Research Design And Methods: A total of 212 women with a singleton pregnancy, 132 with NGT and 80 with GDM, and their offspring were studied. Maternal blood was obtained in the early third trimester and cord blood was obtained at delivery.

Comparison of color Doppler uterine artery indices in a population at high risk for adverse outcome at 24 weeks' gestation.

Objective: To compare uterine artery Doppler velocity and impedance indices in the presence and absence of uterine artery waveform notches, in the prediction of adverse pregnancy outcome in high-risk women.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-seven women identified at Doppler screening as being at 'high risk' underwent a further uterine artery Doppler assessment at 24 weeks' gestation. Pulsatility and resistance indices and minimum, time averaged and time averaged maximum velocities were measured, and the presence of bilateral notches noted.

Platelet changes and subsequent development of pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction in women with abnormal uterine artery Doppler screening.

Objectives: To investigate whether, in women with abnormal uterine artery Doppler, platelet volume and function will identify a subgroup of women at increased risk of pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction and whether in-vitro platelet aggregation precedes the onset of clinical disease.

Design: Platelet number, volume and aggregation induced by collagen or adenosine 5'-diphosphate were evaluated in 16 non-pregnant controls, 29 pregnant women with normal uterine artery Doppler and 31 pregnant women with abnormal Doppler, hence at risk of pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction at 23 weeks. Outcome of pregnancy was recorded in each case.

One-stage screening for pregnancy complications by color Doppler assessment of the uterine arteries at 23 weeks' gestation.

Objective: To estimate the value of screening for preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction by performing color Doppler assessment of uterine arteries at 23 weeks' gestation in predicting adverse pregnancy outcome.

Methods: Women with singleton pregnancies who attended routine ultrasonography at 23 weeks had color Doppler uterine artery imaging. Bilateral uterine artery notches were noted and left and right uterine artery pulsatility indices (PI) were measured.

Increased fetal erythroblasts in women who subsequently develop pre-eclampsia.

In pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia (PET) and/or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) there is an increased number of fetal cells in the maternal circulation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this increase in fetal cells precedes the onset of these pregnancy complications. Doppler ultrasound studies at 24 weeks gestation have shown that increased impedance to flow in the uterine arteries identifies pregnancies with impaired placental perfusion that subsequently develop PET and/or IUGR.

Fetal cells in maternal blood of pregnancies with severe fetal growth restriction.

The aim of this study was to examine whether, in pregnancies with severe early onset fetal growth restriction, the number of fetal erythroblasts in maternal blood is increased. The percentage of fetal erythroblasts in maternal blood, enriched by triple density gradient centrifugation and anti-CD71 magnetic cell sorting, was determined in 10 singleton pregnancies with severe intrauterine growth restriction in which there was Doppler ultrasound evidence of impaired placental perfusion. The values were compared to those of 10 normal pregnancies at the same gestational range of 22-26 weeks.

Assessment of umbilical arterial and venous flow using color Doppler.

Objective: To estimate the umbilical artery and vein blood volume flow using B-mode and Doppler ultrasound in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study of 129 singleton, healthy pregnancies at 23-33 weeks' gestation. The umbilical artery and vein cross-sectional area, time-averaged velocity and pulsatility index were measured in a free loop of cord, and the fetal weight was estimated.

The role of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 phosphoisoforms in pregnancies with impaired placental function identified by doppler ultrasound.

This study was performed to investigate the hypothesis that insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) is involved in the pathogenesis of trophoblast invasion and impaired placentation in human pregnancy. The role of total and non-phosphorylated IGFBP-1 in women with fetal growth restriction and in high risk pregnancies identified by uterine artery Doppler ultrasound screening was examined. This was a prospective study of women booked for antenatal care having second trimester anomaly scans and Doppler screening between 22-26 weeks gestation.