Comparing Fetal Ultrasound Biometric Measurements to Neonatal Anthropometry at the Extremes of Birth Weight.

Objective:  Error in birthweight prediction by sonographic estimated fetal weight (EFW) has clinical implications, such as avoidable cesarean or misclassification of fetal risk in labor. We aimed to evaluate optimal timing of ultrasound and which fetal measurements contribute to error in fetal ultrasound estimations of birth size at the extremes of birthweight.

Study Design:  We compared differences in head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), femur length, and EFW between ultrasound and corresponding birth measurements within 14 ( = 1,290) and 7 ( = 617) days of birth for small- (SGA, <10th percentile), appropriate- (AGA, 10th-90th), and large-for-gestational age (LGA, >90th) newborns.

Fetal growth standards: the NICHD fetal growth study approach in context with INTERGROWTH-21st and the World Health Organization Multicentre Growth Reference Study.

Three recently completed longitudinal cohort studies have developed intrauterine fetal growth charts, one in the United States and two international. This expert review compares and contrasts the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Fetal Growth Studies, INTERGROWTH-21st and World Health Organization Multicentre Growth Reference Study conclusions in light of differences in aims, sampling frames, and analytical approaches. An area of controversy is whether a single growth reference is representative of growth, regardless of ethnic or country origin.

Association of Maternal Obesity With Longitudinal Ultrasonographic Measures of Fetal Growth: Findings From the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies-Singletons.

Importance: Despite the increasing prevalence of pregravid obesity, systematic evaluation of the association of maternal obesity with fetal growth trajectories is lacking.

Objective: To characterize differences in fetal growth trajectories between obese and nonobese pregnant women, and to identify the timing of any observed differences.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Fetal Growth Studies-Singletons study enrolled cohorts of pregnant women at 12 US health care institutions.

Maternal weight gain and associations with longitudinal fetal growth in dichorionic twin pregnancies: a prospective cohort study.

Maternal metabolic demands are much greater with twin gestations; however, there are no accepted recommendations for maternal weight gain in twin pregnancies. We assessed the association of maternal weight gain and fetal growth in dichorionic twins throughout pregnancy. This was a prospective US cohort study ( = 143, 2012-2013) of dichorionic twin pregnancies with known birth outcomes followed from enrollment (11-13 wk) and for ≤6 research visits throughout gestation.

Maternal stress and neonatal anthropometry: the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies.

Background: The effect of maternal mood disorders on neonatal measurements is not well-defined. The Fetal Growth Studies-Singletons provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the relationship between perceived maternal stress and neonatal growth measurements.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether perceived maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with anthropometric measurements in the neonate.

Ultrasound Quality Assurance for Singletons in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Fetal Growth Studies.

Objectives: To report on the ultrasound quality assurance program for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Fetal Growth Studies and describe both its advantages and generalizability.

Methods: After training on an ultrasound system and software, research sonographers were expected to capture blank (unmeasured) images in triplicate for crown-rump length, biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length. A primary expert sonographer was designated and validated.

Dichorionic twin trajectories: the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies.

Background: Systematic evaluation and estimation of growth trajectories in twins require ultrasound measurements across gestation that are performed in controlled clinical settings. Currently, there are few such data for contemporary populations. There is also controversy about whether twin fetal growth should be evaluated with the use of the same benchmarks as singleton growth.

Racial/ethnic standards for fetal growth: the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies.

Objective: Fetal growth is associated with long-term health yet no appropriate standards exist for the early identification of undergrown or overgrown fetuses. We sought to develop contemporary fetal growth standards for 4 self-identified US racial/ethnic groups.

Study Design: We recruited for prospective follow-up 2334 healthy women with low-risk, singleton pregnancies from 12 community and perinatal centers from July 2009 through January 2013.

Comprehensive Safety Monitoring of 12-Month Daily 7000-IU Vitamin D3 Supplementation in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Children and Young Adults.

Background: There is uncertainty whether long-term daily dosing with vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplementation (vitD3) above the 4000-IU/d dietary reference intake upper tolerable limit in children and adults is safe. As part of a randomized placebo-controlled trial, we determined if supplementation with 7000-IU/d vitD3 for 12 months in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-Infected subjects was safe and/or associated with metabolic outcomes.

Material And Methods: A total of 58 HIV-infected subjects-aged 9-24.

In utero exposure to cigarette smoking, environmental tobacco smoke and reproductive hormones in US girls approaching puberty.

Background/aims: Evidence is unclear whether prenatal smoking affects age at menarche and pubertal development, and its impact upon hormones has not been well studied. We aim to identify potential pathways through which prenatal smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) affect reproductive hormones in girls approaching puberty.

Methods: We examined the association between prenatal smoking, current ETS and luteinizing hormone (LH) and inhibin B (InB) in 6- to 11-year-old girls in the 3rd National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994.

Age at hormonal onset of puberty based on luteinizing hormone, inhibin B, and body composition in preadolescent U.S. girls.

Background: Hormonal indicators could be useful for detecting early pubertal onset, but there is little research on how they are related to puberty in U.S. girls.

High-dose vitamin D3 supplementation in children and young adults with HIV: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Suboptimal vitamin D status is prevalent in HIV-infected patients and associated with increased risk of disease severity and morbidity. We aimed to determine 12-month safety and efficacy of daily 7000 IU vitamin D3 (vitD3) versus placebo to sustain increased serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and improve immune status in HIV-infected subjects.

Methods: This was a double-blind trial of perinatally acquired HIV (PHIV)-infected subjects or behaviorally acquired HIV (BHIV)-infected subjects (5.

Methodology for establishing a population-based birth cohort focusing on couple fertility and children's development, the Upstate KIDS Study.

Background: Critical data gaps remain regarding infertility treatment and child development. We assessed the utility of a birth certificate registry for developing a population cohort aimed at answering such questions.

Methods: We utilised the Upstate New York livebirth registry (n = 201,063) to select births conceived with (n = 4024) infertility treatment or exposed infants, who were then frequency-matched by residence to a random sample of infants conceived without (n = 14,455) treatment or unexposed infants, 2008-10.

Trace elements and endometriosis: the ENDO study.

There has been limited study of trace elements and endometriosis. Using a matched cohort design, 473 women aged 18-44 years were recruited into an operative cohort, along with 131 similarly aged women recruited into a population cohort. Endometriosis was defined as surgically visualized disease in the operative cohort, and magnetic resonance imaging diagnosed disease in the population cohort.

Risk factors associated with endometriosis: importance of study population for characterizing disease in the ENDO Study.

Objective: We sought to identify risk factors for endometriosis and their consistency across study populations in the Endometriosis: Natural History, Diagnosis, and Outcomes (ENDO) Study.

Study Design: In this prospective matched, exposure cohort design, 495 women aged 18-44 years undergoing pelvic surgery (exposed to surgery, operative cohort) were compared to an age- and residence-matched population cohort of 131 women (unexposed to surgery, population cohort). Endometriosis was diagnosed visually at laparoscopy/laparotomy or by pelvic magnetic resonance imaging in the operative and population cohorts, respectively.

Assisted reproductive technologies and children's neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Initial reports suggested that children conceived with assisted reproductive technologies (ART) may be at increased risk for a spectrum of developmental disabilities. Evolving evidence suggests that some of the early risks may have been overstated when not taking plurality of birth or gestational age at delivery into consideration, as both are independent risk factors for neurodevelopmental disabilities arising from alterations in structure and function or limitations in activities. Continued research is needed to overcome lingering data gaps in light of the equivocal literature for many neurodevelopmental disabilities relative to ART, increasing utilization of services, and changes in the clinical management of infecund couples such as the adoption of natural cycles or in vitro maturation treatment options.

In utero exposures and endometriosis: the Endometriosis, Natural History, Disease, Outcome (ENDO) Study.

Objective: To assess in utero exposures and the odds of an endometriosis diagnosis.

Design: Matched cohort design.

Setting: Fourteen participating clinical centers in geographically defined areas in Utah and California.

Perfluorochemicals and endometriosis: the ENDO study.

Background: Environmental chemicals may be associated with endometriosis. No published research has focused on the possible role of perfluorochemicals (PFCs) despite their widespread presence in human tissues.

Methods: We formulated two samples.

Comparing apples and pears: women's perceptions of their body size and shape.

Background: Obesity is a growing public health problem among reproductive-aged women, with consequences for chronic disease risk and reproductive and obstetric morbidities. Evidence also suggests that body shape (i.e.

Inhibin B and luteinizing hormone levels in girls aged 6-11 years from NHANES III, 1988-1994.

Objective: To evaluate inhibin B and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in a large, representative cross-sectional sample of US girls and characterize the relationships of these laboratory values with age, clinical signs of puberty and other correlates.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of LH and inhibin B in banked serum from 720 girls aged 6-11 years who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).

Measurements: Levels of inhibin B and LH, race, ethnicity and anthropometric measurements were compared for all girls.

Urinary concentrations of benzophenone-type UV filters in U.S. women and their association with endometriosis.

Benzophenone (BP)-type UV filters are widely used in a variety of personal care products for the protection of skin and hair from UV irradiation. Despite the estrogenic potencies of BP derivatives, few studies have examined the occurrence of these compounds in human matrices. Furthermore, associations among exposure to these compounds and estrogen-dependent diseases (such as endometriosis) have not been examined previously.