Effect of bivalirudin on coagulation in neonatal (cord) and adult human blood in vitro.

Introduction: Bivalirudin is recommended as an alternative to heparin in cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Although it has been used in infants and children for this indication, there is a paucity of data on the pharmacologic effects of bivalirudin in neonates. Given the immaturity of the hemostatic system in neonates, we hypothesized that coagulation responses to bivalirudin in this population would be different than in adults.

Measuring Childbirth Outcomes Using Administrative and Birth Certificate Data.

Background: The number of pregnancy-related deaths and severe maternal complications continues to rise in the United States, and the quality of obstetrical care across U.S. hospitals is uneven.

Neuraxial opioids for post-cesarean delivery analgesia: can hydromorphone replace morphine? A retrospective study.

Background: Cesarean delivery is the most common surgical procedure performed in the USA. We evaluated the postoperative analgesic properties of neuraxial hydromorphone compared to neuraxial morphine for post-cesarean delivery analgesia.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed of women who underwent cesarean delivery and received neuraxial anesthesia from March to November 2011 and from March to November 2012.

Rates of major obstetrical complications vary almost fivefold among US hospitals.

Of the approximately four million women who give birth each year in the United States, nearly 13 percent experience one or more major complications. But the extent to which the rates of major obstetrical complications vary across hospitals in the United States is unknown. We used multivariable logistic regression models to examine the variation in obstetrical complication outcomes across US hospitals among a large, nationally representative sample of more than 750,000 obstetrical deliveries in 2010.