Effects of maternal obstructive sleep apnea on fetal growth: a case-control study.

Objective: To investigate whether maternal obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with changes in fetal growth trajectory.

Study Design: Retrospective review of pregnant women who underwent overnight polysomnography. Fetal growth was estimated using sonographic biometric measurements obtained during routine prenatal care.

Evaluation of Umbilical Vein Blood Volume Flow in Preeclampsia by Angle-Independent 3D Sonography.

Objectives: To investigate the association between umbilical vein blood volume flow and the condition of preeclampsia in an at-risk maternal patient cohort. Umbilical vein volume flow was quantified by a 3-dimensional (3D) sonographic technique that overcomes several limitations of standard sonographic flow measurement methods.

Methods: A total of 35 patients, each with a singleton pregnancy, were recruited to provide 5 patients with preeclampsia, derived as a subset from a 26-patient at-risk group, and 9 patients with normal pregnancies.

A Novel Mutation on RAF1 in Association with Fetal Findings Suggestive of Noonan Syndrome.

Noonan syndrome is a multisystem genetic disorder caused by genes encoding proteins involved in the RAS-MAPK pathway. Affected fetuses have variable presentations ranging from the absence of prenatal findings to increased nuchal fold, cystic hygromas, pleural effusions, cardiac malformations, or skin edema. We describe a male fetus who had features consistent with Noonan syndrome at the time of fetal anatomic survey, including hydrops and a possible cardiac defect.

Increased false positive Down syndrome screening in women with sickle cell anemia.

Objectives: This study seeks to determine whether there is a higher rate of false positive serum screening for Down syndrome in women with sickle cell anemia and, if so, which markers contribute to the false positive screen.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of women who had serum screening between 1998 and 2011. Subjects were women with sickle cell anemia (n = 13), and controls were African American women who did not have that disease (n = 91).

Autism risk in small- and large-for-gestational-age infants.

Objective: We sought to determine whether small-for-gestational age (SGA) and large-for-gestational age (LGA) birthweights increase autism risk.

Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort analysis comparing children with autism (n = 20,206) within a birth cohort (n = 5,979,605). Stratification by sex and birthweight percentile (SGA, <5th or 5-10th percentile; appropriate size for gestational age [GA], >10th to <90th percentile; LGA, either 90-95th or >95th percentile) preceded Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel analysis for GA effect, and multivariate analysis.

Discharge planning for palliative care patients: a qualitative analysis.

For patients hospitalized with life-threatening illnesses and their families, palliative care consultants can provide critical support by providing information about prognosis, ensuring that symptoms are managed, helping to clarify goals of care, and addressing psychosocial and spiritual concerns. However, once patients leave the hospital, many hospital-based palliative care teams (PCTs) cannot continue to play active roles in patient care. Gaps in discharge planning not only decrease quality of life for patients, but also translate into lack of support for caregivers.