Indirect Effects of Neighbourhood Socioeconomic Status on Preterm Birth Risk in an Argentine Population.

Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is the main condition related to perinatal morbimortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the indirect effects of neighbourhood socioeconomic status (NSES) on the risk of spontaneous PTB.

Methods: We carried out a retrospective case-control study including sociodemographic and obstetric data of multigravid women who gave birth at a maternity hospital in Tucumán, Argentina, between 2005 and 2010: 949 women without previous PTB nor pregnancy loss who delivered at term and 552 who had spontaneous PTB.

Genetic susceptibility for retinopathy of prematurity and its associated comorbidities.

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the leading cause of child blindness. Preterm newborns of very low gestational age (GA) and very low birth weight are at the greatest risk. Our objective was to evaluate the role of genetic variants associated with ROP risk and its comorbidities in an Argentinian sample of premature infants.

Gene-environment interactions and preterm birth predictors: A Bayesian network approach.

Preterm birth (PTB) is the main condition related to perinatal morbimortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify gene-environment interactions associated with spontaneous PTB or its predictors. We carried out a retrospective case-control study including parental sociodemographic and obstetric data as well as newborn genetic variants of 69 preterm and 61 at term newborns born at a maternity hospital from Tucumán, Argentina, between 2005 and 2010.

Genes, exposures, and interactions on preterm birth risk: an exploratory study in an Argentine population.

Preterm birth (PTB) is the main condition related to perinatal morbimortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify associations of spontaneous PTB with genetic variants, exposures, and interactions between and within them. We carried out a retrospective case-control study including parental sociodemographic and obstetric data, and fetal genetic variants.

Neonatal anthropometry of malformed newborns: A large South American population-based study.

Background: Population-based anthropometric evaluation of malformed newborns is scarce.

Objectives: To evaluate malformed newborns' foetal growth using the ICD 10 malformations' classification.

Methods: A study including 33,769 newborns (14,857 malformed and 18,912 nonmalformed), selected from 678,840 births from nine South American countries, period 2010-2018, was conducted.

Preterm birth etiological pathways: a Bayesian networks and mediation analysis approach.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the mediating effect of spontaneous preterm birth (PTB) main predictors that would allow to suggest etiological pathways.

Methods: We carried out a case-control study, including sociodemographic characteristics, habits, health care, and obstetric data of multiparous women who gave birth at a maternity hospital from Tucumán, Argentina, between 2005 and 2010: 998 women without previous PTB who delivered at term and 562 who delivered preterm. We selected factors with the greatest predictive power using a penalized logistic regression model.

Survival of infants born with esophageal atresia among 24 international birth defects surveillance programs.

Background: Esophageal atresia (EA) affects around 2.3-2.6 per 10,000 births world-wide.

[Social inequities in teenage mothers and the relationship to adverse perinatal outcomes in South American populations].

The aim was to explain differences in the rates of adverse perinatal events in teenage mothers with low and high schooling. The sample was collected from the Latin American Colaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC) database. From a total of 2,443,747 births in 93 hospitals, 66,755 live newborns without congenital malformations were recruited from 2000 to 2017.

Preterm birth and genitourinary tract infections: assessing gene-environment interaction.

Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of perinatal morbimortality worldwide. Genetic and environmental factors could raise PTB risk. The aim of this study was to analyze the contribution of the statistical interaction between genes and vaginal-urinary tract infections (VI-UTI) to the risk of PTB by clinical subtype.

Analysis of Mortality among Neonates and Children with Spina Bifida: An International Registry-Based Study, 2001-2012.

Background: Medical advancements have resulted in better survival and life expectancy among those with spina bifida, but a significantly increased risk of perinatal and postnatal mortality for individuals with spina bifida remains.

Objectives: To examine stillbirth and infant and child mortality among those affected by spina bifida using data from multiple countries.

Methods: We conducted an observational study, using data from 24 population- and hospital-based surveillance registries in 18 countries contributing as members of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (ICBDSR).

Limb body wall complex: Its delineation and relationship with amniotic bands using clustering methods.

Background: Despite the numerous reports on the limb body wall complex (LBWC), this association has never been adequately defined. Amniotic bands (AB) are frequently present but their role remains unclear. Since most reports were based on clinical and often subjective diagnoses, the aim of this work was to define LBWC and the role of AB, minimizing subjectivity.

Prevalence of low birth weight in a scenario of economic depression in Argentina.

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) is considered a general indicator of health because it is related to complications in the life of a newborn infant and is one of the leading causes of infant mortality. It is a multifactorial indicator, and its determinants include socioeconomic factors.

Objective: To assess the impact of economic inequality on the prevalence of LBW by quantifying its differential effect by maternal age, level of maternal education, and level of care.

Neural tube defects: Sex ratio changes after fortification with folic acid.

Background: Historically, neural tube defects (NTDs) have predominated in female infants but the reasons remain unclear. In South America, the pre- folic acid fortification (FAF) rates of NTDs were around 18/10,000 births for females and 12/10,000 births for males, with an estimated sex ratio (male/female) of 0.67.

Individual deprivation, regional deprivation, and risk for oral clefts in Argentina.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of individual low socioeconomic status (SES) and deprived geographical area (GA) on the occurrence of isolated cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL±P) in Argentina.

Methods: This case-control study included 577 newborns with isolated CL±P and 13 344 healthy controls, born between 1992 and 2001, from a total population of 546 129 births in 39 hospitals in Argentina. Census data on unsatisfied basic needs were used to establish the degree of geographical area deprivation.

Prevalence and clinical profile of microcephaly in South America pre-Zika, 2005-14: prevalence and case-control study.

 To describe the prevalence and clinical spectrum of microcephaly in South America for the period 2005-14, before the start of the Zika epidemic in 2015, as a baseline for future surveillance as the Zika epidemic spreads and as other infectious causes may emerge in future. Prevalence and case-control study. ECLAMC (Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations) database derived from 107 hospitals in 10 South American countries, 2005 to 2014.

Maternal Education Gradients in Infant Health in Four South American Countries.

Objective We investigate gradients (i.e. differences) in infant health outcomes by maternal education in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela and explore channels related to father's education, household labor outcomes, and maternal health, fertility, and use of prenatal services and technology.

Association of candidate gene polymorphisms with clinical subtypes of preterm birth in a Latin American population.

BackgroundPreterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. PTB is often classified according to clinical presentation as follows: idiopathic (PTB-I), preterm premature rupture of membranes (PTB-PPROM), and medically induced (PTB-M). The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between specific candidate genes and clinical subtypes of PTB.

Association between a Maternal History of Miscarriages and Birth Defects.

Background: Some studies, mainly in the older literature, observed a significant association between miscarriages and birth defects (BDs) occurring in the same sibship. However, few studies examined the BD/miscarriage relationship in depth. In addition nothing has been added to the underlying mechanisms possibly linking both events.

Explaining ethnic disparities in preterm birth in Argentina and Ecuador.

Little is understood about racial/ethnic disparities in infant health in South America. We quantified the extent to which the disparity in preterm birth (PTB; <37 gestational weeks) rate between infants of Native only ancestry and those of European only ancestry in Argentina and Ecuador are explained by household socio-economic, demographic, healthcare use, and geographic location indicators. The samples included 5199 infants born between 2000 and 2011 from Argentina and 1579 infants born between 2001 and 2011 from Ecuador.

The impact of unemployment cycles on child and maternal health in Argentina.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of economic cycles in Argentina on infant and maternal health between 1994 and 2006, a period that spans the major economic crisis in 1999-2002.

Methods: We evaluate the effects of province-level unemployment rates on several infant health outcomes, including birth weight, gestational age, fetal growth rate, and hospital discharge status after birth in a sample of 15,000 infants born in 13 provinces. Maternal health and healthcare outcomes include acute and chronic illnesses, infectious diseases, and use of prenatal visits and technology.

Descriptive analysis of high birth prevalence rate geographical clusters of congenital anomalies in South America.

Background: The birth prevalence rate (BPR) of congenital anomalies (CAs) is heterogeneous and exhibits geographical and sociocultural variations throughout the world. In South America (SA), high birth prevalence regions of congenital anomalies have been observed. The aim of this study was to identify, describe, and characterize geographical clusters of congenital anomalies in SA.

Maternal and neonatal epidemiological features in clinical subtypes of preterm birth.

Objective: This study was designed to characterize and compare the maternal and newborn epidemiological characteristics through analysis of environmental factors, sociodemographic characteristics and clinical characteristics between the different clinical subtypes of preterm birth (PTB): Idiopathic (PTB-I), premature rupture of the membranes (PTB-PPROM) and medically indicated (PTB-M). The two subtypes PTB-I and PTB-PPROM grouped are called spontaneous preterm births (PTB-S).

Methods: A retrospective, observational study was conducted in 1.

[Association between NAT2 polymorphisms with non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in Argentina].

Background: NAT genes are considered candidate genes for the genetic predisposition to non-syndromic Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCLP), since they codify for N-acetyltransferases, enzymes responsible for the biotransformation of arylamines, hydrazine drugs, and a great number of toxins and carcinogens present in diet, cigarette smoke, and environment.

Aim: To determine the association between alleles determining slow acetylator phenotype and the risk of NSCLP.

Material And Methods: We analyzed *5 (481C>T), *6 (590G>A) and *7 (857G>A) alleles which determine the slow acetylator phenotype and *4 (wild type) allele by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism in 97 progenitor-case trios of NSCLP in Argentinian Obstetric Wards.