Early exposure to mercury and cardiovascular function of seven-year old children in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Background: The cardiotoxicity of prenatal exposure to mercury has been suggested in populations having regular contaminated seafood intake, though replications in the literature are inconsistent.

Methods: The Timoun Mother-Child Cohort Study was set up in Guadeloupe, an island in the Caribbean Sea where seafood consumption is regular. At seven years of age, 592 children underwent a medical examination, including cardiac function assessment.

Prenatal and childhood chlordecone exposure, cognitive abilities and problem behaviors in 7-year-old children: the TIMOUN mother-child cohort in Guadeloupe.

Background: Chlordecone is a highly persistent organochlorine insecticide that was intensively used in banana fields in the French West Indies, resulting in a widespread contamination. Neurotoxicity of acute exposures in adults is well recognized, and empirical data suggests that prenatal exposure affects visual and fine motor developments during infancy and childhood, with greater susceptibility in boys.

Objective: To assess the associations between pre- and postnatal exposures to chlordecone and cognitive and behavioral functions in school-aged children from Guadeloupe.

Prenatal and childhood exposure to chlordecone and adiposity of seven-year-old children in the Timoun mother-child cohort study in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Background: Exposure to persistent environmental organic pollutants may contribute to the development of obesity among children. Chlordecone is a persistent organochlorine insecticide with estrogenic properties that was used in the French West Indies (1973-1993) and is still present in the soil and the water and food consumed by the local population. We studied the association between prenatal and childhood exposure to chlordecone and the adiposity of prepubertal children.

Visuospatial processing and fine motor function among 7-years old Guadeloupe children pre- and postnatally exposed to the organochlorine pesticide chlordecone.

Background: Chlordecone is an organochlorine that was largely used as an insecticide to control a species of root borers, the Banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus), in the French West Indies, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Its molecules have been shown to be very persistent in the environment as pollution in soils leading to contamination of water sources and foodstuff will last for several decades. Our team previously reported associations between prenatal chlordecone exposure and poorer fine motor development at two points in time during infancy.

Chlordecone Exposure and Thyroid, Metabolic, and Sex-Steroid Hormones at the Age of Seven Years: A Study From the TIMOUN Mother-Child Cohort in Guadeloupe.

Background: Chlordecone is an endocrine-disrupting chemical with well recognized estrogenic and progestagenic properties. This organochlorine insecticide was extensively used in the French West Indies from 1973 to 1993 to control the banana root borer. Due to its poor degradation in the environment, permanently polluted soil is responsible for the current contamination of the food chain and human beings.

Reassessment of the risk of birth defects due to Zika virus in Guadeloupe, 2016.

Background: In the French Territories in the Americas (FTA), the risk of birth defects possibly associated with Zika virus (ZIKV) infection was 7.0% (95%CI: 5.0 to 9.

Impact of Saharan Dust on Severe Small for Gestational Births in the Caribbean.

Desert dust transported from the Sahara to the Caribbean generates peak exposures to particulate matter ≤ 10 μm (PM). We investigated the impact of dust episodes on severe small for gestational-age births in Guadeloupe. The study sample consisted of 911 pregnant women enrolled in the Timoun mother-child cohort.

Visual contrast sensitivity in school-age Guadeloupean children exposed to chlordecone.

Recent evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to chlordecone, a persistent organochlorine pesticide that was used intensively in the French West Indies, affects infant neurodevelopment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between prenatal and postnatal chlordecone exposures on visual contrast sensitivity in 285 children aged from 7.1 to 8 years old (mean age = 7.

Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in ovarian cancer: an update.

In the treatment of advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC)-associated surgery and chemotherapy with intravenous platinum/taxane-based therapy most patients had early or late recurrence. Prevention of progression and recurrence is a major objective for the management of EOC. Recently, many clinical studies have evaluated the strategy with hyperthermic intraoperative intraperitoneal (IP) drug delivery.

The place of secondary complete cytoreductive surgery in advanced ovarian cancer.

Despite optimal treatment, three-quarters of the patients with advanced ovarian cancer, experiment relapse and its treatment has become a public health issue. Initially debated, surgery is gaining legitimacy in the treatment of late relapse patients, compared to chemotherapy alone. Secondary complete cytoreduction should be proposed only to a highly selected population.

Leiomyomas in an African Caribbean hysterectomy population considered to be ethnically related to African Americans.

Background: Uterine leiomyoma has been reported to be a worse problematic disease for African American than Caucasian women in the US. Data are almost non-existent for other populations of African ancestry. Our aim was to investigate the hypothesis of an equivalent influence of ethnicity on uterine leiomyomas for women of a French African-Caribbean population.

An update on preoperative assessment of the resectability of advanced ovarian cancer.

The best prognosis for advanced ovarian cancer is provided by no residual disease after primary cytoreductive surgery. It is thus important to be able to predict resectability that will result in complete cytoreduction, while avoiding unnecessary surgery that may leave residual disease. No single procedure appears to be sufficiently accurate and reliable to predict resectability.

Chlordecone exposure and risk of congenital anomalies: the Timoun Mother-Child Cohort Study in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Chlordecone is an organochlorine pesticide that was extensively used to control the banana root borer population in the French West Indies until 1993. Its persistence in soil has led to widespread pollution of the environment, and human beings, including pregnant women, are still exposed to this chemical. High levels of exposure to chlordecone during gestation have been shown to cause congenital anomalies, including undescended testes in rodents.

Prenatal and childhood exposure to chlordecone and sex-typed toy preference of 7-year-old Guadeloupean children.

Chlordecone was used intensively as an insecticide in the French West Indies. Because of its high persistence, the resulting contamination of food and water has led to chronic exposure of the general population as evidenced by its presence in the blood of people of Guadeloupe, in particular in pregnant women and newborns, and in maternal breast milk. Chlordecone is recognized as a reproductive and developmental toxicant, is neurotoxic and carcinogenic in rodents, and is considered as an endocrine-disrupting compound with well-established estrogenic and progestogenic properties both in vitro and in vivo.

Impact of Saharan dust episodes on preterm births in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Objectives: Large amounts of mineral dust are transported from their African sources in the Saharan-Sahel region to the Caribbean Sea, generating peak exposures to particulate matter ≤10 µm (PM). This study aimed to investigate the impact of Saharan dust episodes on preterm births in the Guadeloupe archipelago.

Methods: The study population consisted of 909 pregnant women who were enrolled in the TIMOUN mother-child cohort between 2004 and 2007.

Pregnancy Outcomes after ZIKV Infection in French Territories in the Americas.

Background: The risk of congenital neurologic defects related to Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has ranged from 6 to 42% in various reports. The aim of this study was to estimate this risk among pregnant women with symptomatic ZIKV infection in French territories in the Americas.

Methods: From March 2016 through November 2016, we enrolled in this prospective cohort study pregnant women with symptomatic ZIKV infection that was confirmed by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) assay.

Characteristics of invasive breast cancer and overall survival of patients eligible for mass breast cancer screening in Guadeloupe compared to those of the preceding age group.

Background: Mass breast cancer screening is offered to French women between the ages of 50 and 74. In the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, where the population is of mostly African ancestry, a low age at diagnosis of breast cancer has been reported, as for African-Americans. This raises the question of whether breast cancer is more aggressive in the age group preceding that eligible for mass screening (40-49) in Guadeloupe.

The annual carnival in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) is associated with an increase in the number of conceptions and subsequent births nine months later: 2000 - 2011.

The seasonal patterns of conceptions and births differ between geographic areas. Several potential determinants of this variation have been identified, including biological, environmental and behavioral elements, but festive events are rarely mentioned. We investigated the possible association between the carnival and seasonal fertility variations in the French West Indies.

Prenatal exposure to chlordecone, gestational weight gain, and birth weight in a Guadeloupean birth cohort.

Background: Chlordecone is a persistent organochlorine insecticide with well-defined estrogenic properties. It was intensively used in the French West Indies until 1993 to control the banana root borer. Because of the long-term contamination of soils and water, the population is currently exposed to chlordecone through food consumption.

Causal Attribution of Breast Cancer by Survivors in French West Indies.

Patients frequently ask about the cause of their breast cancer. To answer, physicians refer to breast cancer risk factors based on medical reports. We aim to assess these risk factors for the point of view of survivors, a point of view which seems to differ from that of medical references.

Characterization of potentially avoidable cases in a 1-year series of consecutive cesarean sections in the tertiary maternity unit of Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Aim: The global increase in the rate of cesarean sections (CS) is currently an issue. We aimed to assess the rate of CS locally and to identify cases in which this procedure may have been avoidable.

Methods: In this prospective consecutive series, we analyzed the 478 CS carried out in our unit in 2009.

Perinatal exposure to chlordecone and infant growth.

Background: The intensive use of chlordecone (an organochlorine insecticide) in the French West Indies until 1993 resulted in a long-term soil and water contamination. Chlordecone has known hormonal properties and exposure through contaminated food during critical periods of development (gestation and early infancy) may affect growth.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the impact of prenatal and postnatal exposure to chlordecone on the growth of children from the TIMOUN mother-child cohort.

Chlordecone exposure and adverse effects in French West Indies populations.

Chlordecone (Kepone) is an organochlorine insecticide that has been used as insecticide and fungicide. In the French West Indies, Guadeloupe and Martinique, it was intensively applied to banana fields from 1973 to 1993 to control root borers. This pesticide undergoes no significant biotic or abiotic degradation in the environment and is still present in soils where it was applied.

Perinatal exposure to chlordecone, thyroid hormone status and neurodevelopment in infants: the Timoun cohort study in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Background: Perinatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals may affect thyroid hormones homeostasis and impair brain development. Chlordecone, an organochlorine insecticide widely used in the French West Indies has known estrogenic and progestin properties, but no data is available, human or animal, on its action on thyroid hormone system.

Objectives: Our aim was to evaluate the impact of perinatal exposure to chlordecone on the thyroid hormone system of a sample of infants from the Timoun mother-child cohort in Guadeloupe and their further neurodevelopment.

Vaginal cesarean section: heir to, but not legacy of Dührssen's incision.

Purpose: Vaginal cesarean section is a uterine incision technique derived from Dührssen's incision, with which it is sometimes confused. We report here our experience over 10 years with this technique, with the aim of defining the situations in which it is potentially useful.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 24 cases of vaginal cesarean section (i.