The Implementation of Preeclampsia Screening and Prevention (IMPRESS) Study.

Background: Preeclampsia affects between 2% and 5% of pregnancies and is one of the leading causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite strong evidence that the combination of systematic preeclampsia screening based on the Fetal Medicine Foundation preeclampsia risk calculation algorithm with treatment of high-risk patients with low-dose aspirin reduces the incidence of preterm preeclampsia more than currently used risk-factor-based screening, real-world implementation studies have not yet been done in Canada.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the operational feasibility of implementing first-trimester screening and prevention of preterm preeclampsia (<37 weeks) alongside a publicly funded first-trimester combined screening program for aneuploidies.

Maternal, Fetal, and Neonatal Outcomes of Elective Fetal Reduction Among Multiple Gestation Pregnancies: A Systematic Review.

Objective: To review the existing literature on fetal and maternal health outcomes following elective pregnancy reduction.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register.

Study Selection: Studies involving women pregnant with dichorionic twins, trichorionic triplets, or quadra-chorionic quadruplets who underwent elective fetal reduction of 1 or more fetuses to reduce the risks associated with multiple gestation pregnancies.

An audit of outcome in intravascular transfusions using the intrahepatic portion of the fetal umbilical vein compared to cordocentesis.

Introduction: Maternal red cell alloimmunization is a potential cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. The outcome of severe disease has been transformed by the use of in-utero and particularly, fetal intravascular transfusion. In the majority of instances this is performed by cordocentesis.

Normal human pregnancy is associated with an elevation in the immune suppressive CD25+ CD4+ regulatory T-cell subset.

Summary CD4+ CD25+ T regulatory cells (TReg), suppress antigen-specific immune responses and are important for allograft tolerance. During pregnancy the mother tolerates an allograft expressing paternal antigens (the fetus) requiring substantial changes in immune regulation over a programmed period of time. We analysed whether immune-suppressive TReg cells were altered during pregnancy and therefore might play a part in this tolerant state.