Introduction: Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Spontaneous Preterm Birth (sPTB) has many and varied causes but is known to be strongly associated with a short or shortening cervix in the midtrimester of pregnancy. The strongest risk factor for sPTB is a previous sPTB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Early onset group B streptococcal (GBS) disease can cause significant neonatal morbidity and mortality. There is currently no Irish national guideline for GBS screening, and protocols vary across maternity units. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing at induction or labour onset informs triage for antibiotic prophylaxis; however, there are human and infrastructural resource requirements to enable widespread implementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOncotype DX® is a gene expression assay that quantifies the risk of distant recurrence in patients with hormone receptor positive early breast cancer, publicly funded in Ireland since 2011. The aim of this study was to correlate Oncotype DX® risk groupings with traditional histopathological parameters and the results of other risk assessment tools including Recurrence Score-Pathology-Clinical (RSPC), Adjuvant Risk Index (Adj RI), Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) and the Adjuvant! Online 10-year score (AO). Patients were retrospectively identified from the histopathology databases of two Irish hospitals and patient and tumour characteristics collated.
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