Outcomes of haemoglobin Bart's hydrops fetalis following intrauterine transfusion in Ontario, Canada.

Objectives: With improved access to intrauterine transfusion (IUT), more fetuses with haemoglobin Bart's hydrops fetalis (HBHF; homozygous α-thalassaemia) will survive.

Design: To evaluate the long-term outcome of affected fetuses with and without IUT in Ontario, Canada, we retrospectively collected data on IUTs and pregnancy outcomes in all cases of HBHF, from 1989 to 2014. Clinical outcome and neurocognitive profiles of long-term survivors were also collected and compared with data from 24 patients with transfusion-dependent β-thalassaemia (TDT-β).

Maternal outcomes in pregnancies affected by varicella zoster virus infections: population-based study on 7.7 million pregnancy admissions.

Aim: Previous estimates of the incidence of varicella zoster virus (VZV) pneumonia and maternal death associated with VZV infection among the pregnant population have varied considerably and been based predominantly on reports from case series. We sought to measure the incidence of VZV-related morbidity and mortality to provide more representative population estimates.

Methods: We carried out a large cohort study on all births using the United States Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-Nationwide Inpatient Sample database between 2003 and 2010.