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.

Paternal age and risk for selected birth defects in a large South American sample.

Background: The relationship between maternal age (MA) and birth defects (BD) has been extensively studied while much less research, mostly with discordant results, has focused on the risk of paternal age (PA) for BD. Furthermore, no consensus has been reached on the best way to control the association of PA with MA.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the risk of PA increase, at 1-year intervals, for selected BD, especially controlling for the confounding effect of MA.

Diseases during pregnancy in a large unselected South American sample.

Objective: Our aim was to describe the prevalence of diseases during pregnancy and the association between fetal exposure to the most frequent maternal diseases and the risk of preterm (PTB) and/or small for gestational age (SGA) newborns in an unselected sample of women who gave birth in South American countries.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional study including 56,232 mothers of non-malformed infants born between 2002 and 2016, using data from the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC). Diseases with higher- than-expected PTB/SGA frequencies were identified.

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.

Lethality of Birth Defects in Live Born Infants Categorized by Gestational Age and Birth Weight.

Objective: This study aimed to describe lethality of birth defects (BDs) in newborns categorized by gestational age and birth weight and to identify BDs associated with prematurity.

Study Design: Live born infants ( = 16,452) with isolated BDs classified by severity, and 42,511 healthy controls were assigned to categories: adequate growth, preterm, or small for gestational age (SGA). Proportion of cases and BDs' lethality rates were obtained by category and compared with controls.

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.

[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.

A graph theory approach to analyze birth defect associations.

Birth defects are prenatal morphological or functional anomalies. Associations among them are studied to identify their etiopathogenesis. The graph theory methods allow analyzing relationships among a complete set of anomalies.

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.

Genetic and phenotypic variability of iris color in Buenos Aires population.

The aim of this work was to describe the phenotypic and genotypic variability related to iris color for the population of Buenos Aires province (Argentina), and to assess the usefulness of current methods of analysis for this country. We studied five Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) included in the IrisPlex kit, in 118 individuals, and we quantified eye color with Digital Iris Analysis Tool. The markers fit Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for the whole sample, but not for rs12913832 within the group of brown eyes (LR=8.