Placental pathology lesions: International Society for Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology vs Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine fetal growth restriction definitions.

Background: Research on the definition of fetal growth restriction (FGR) has focused on predicting adverse perinatal outcomes. A significant limitation of this approach is that the individual outcomes of interest could be related to the condition and the treatment. Evaluation of outcomes that reflect the pathophysiology of FGR may overcome this limitation.

Cumulative sum learning curve for cordocentesis among maternal-fetal medicine fellows in a low-cost simulation model.

Objective: To determine the individual learning curves for cordocentesis in a low-cost simulator for maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) fellows.

Methods: This observational, descriptive, educational, and prospective study was performed from July through November 2022. After an introductory course based on a standardized technique for cordocentesis, each second-year MFM fellow who accepted to participate in the study performed this procedure using a low-cost simulation model, and experienced operators supervised the cordocenteses.

Abdominal circumference growth velocity as a predictor of adverse perinatal outcomes in small-for-gestational-age fetuses.

Objective: To assess the predictive value of abdominal circumference growth velocity (ACGV) between the second and third trimesters to predict adverse perinatal outcomes in a cohort of small-for-gestational-age fetuses without evidence of placental insufficiency (i.e. fetal growth restriction).

Intended delivery mode and neonatal outcomes in pregnancies with fetal growth restriction.

To compare neonatal outcomes in pregnancies with fetal growth restriction (FGR) by intended delivery mode. This is a retrospective cohort study of singleton pregnancies with FGR that were delivered ≥34.0 weeks gestation.

Effects of maternal characteristics and medical history on first trimester biomarkers for preeclampsia.

Objective: To identify and quantify the effects of maternal characteristics and medical history on the distribution of Placental Growth Factor (PlGF), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and Uterine Artery Mean Pulsatility Index (UtA-PI); and to standardize the expected values for these biomarkers in the first trimester to create unique multiples of the median (MoMs) for Latin-American population.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort built exclusively for research purposes of consecutive pregnant women attending their first-trimester screening ultrasound at a primary care center for the general population in Mexico City between April 2019 and October 2021. We excluded fetuses with chromosomal abnormalities, major fetal malformations, and women delivering in another care center.

Cord Blood SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibodies and Their Association With Maternal Immunity and Neonatal Outcomes.

Passive transplacental immunity is crucial for neonatal protection from infections. Data on the correlation between neonatal immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and protection from adverse outcomes is scarce. This work aimed to describe neonatal seropositivity in the context of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, seropositivity, and neonatal outcomes.

COVID-19 vaccination uptake among pregnant individuals in a middle-income setting.

Overall rate of COVID‐19 vaccination during pregnancy was strikingly low in this middle‐income setting. Vaccine uptake was more likely among individuals with high‐risk pregnancies.

Comparison of Perinatal Outcomes between Patients with Suspected Complex and Simple Gastroschisis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare perinatal outcomes between patients with and without prenatal ultrasound markers predictive of complex gastroschisis.

Study Design: A prospective cohort of 98 patients with isolated fetal gastroschisis underwent antenatal ultrasound and delivered in a tertiary referral center. Patients were classified according to eight ultrasonographic markers predictive of complexity, and perinatal outcomes were assessed accordingly.

Use of a screening questionnaire for systemic lupus erythematosus among pregnant women in a Mexican population.

Objective: To conduct a diagnostic assessment of pregnant women using a screening questionnaire for SLE.

Materials And Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study carried out at the National Institute of Perinatology between 1 November 2019 and 28 February 2020, using a screening questionnaire for SLE. Antinuclear antibody and anti-double stranded DNA antibody tests and a clinical assessment by a rheumatologist were conducted for participants who obtained ≥4 positive responses on the questionnaire.

A forecast of maternal deaths with and without vaccination of pregnant women against COVID-19 in Mexico.

With 100% COVID‐19 vaccination among pregnant women during May and June of 2021, the overall predicted number of maternal deaths for 2021 in Mexico would significantly decrease.

Clinical characteristics and risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women attending a third level reference center in Mexico City.

Background: COVID-19 symptoms vary widely among pregnant women. We aimed to assess the most frequent symptoms amongst pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a tertiary hospital in Mexico City.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of pregnant women attending the National Institute of Perinatology in Mexico City was performed.

Fetal and placental infection with SARS-CoV-2 in early pregnancy.

To date, mother-to-fetus transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, remains controversial. Although placental COVID-19 infection has been documented in some cases during the second- and third-trimesters, no reports are available for the first trimester of pregnancy, and no SARS-CoV-2 protein has been found in fetal tissues. We studied the placenta and fetal organs from an early pregnancy miscarriage in a COVID-19 maternal infection by immunohistochemical, reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy methods.

Amniocentesis learning curve using a low-cost simulation model to teach maternal-fetal medicine fellows.

Objective: To describe the learning curve for amniocentesis among Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) fellows using a low-cost simulation model in Mexico.

Methods: Fourteen first- and second-year MFM fellows with no previous experience in amniocentesis participated in this single-center prospective study from March to June of 2019. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia and written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Transcervical chorionic villus sampling in a low-cost simulation model: Learning curve of maternal-fetal medicine fellows in Mexico.

The implementation of a low‐cost simulation model and cumulative sum analysis enables training and monitoring of individual learning curves for transcervical chorionic villus sampling.

Controversies concerning the antiphospholipid syndrome in obstetrics.

Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome is a non-inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by recurrent thrombotic events and/or obstetric complications associated with the presence of circulating antiphospholipid antibodies (anticardiolipin antibodies, anti-β glycoprotein-i antibodies, and/or lupus anticoagulant. Antiphospholipid antibodies are a heterogeneous group of autoantibodies associated with recurrent miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal growth restriction and premature birth. The diversity of the features of the proposed placental antiphospholipid antibodies fingerprint suggests that several disease processes may occur in the placentae of women with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome in the form of immune responses: inflammatory events, complement activation, angiogenic imbalance and, less commonly, thrombosis and infarction.

Amniotic band sequence: prenatal diagnosis, phenotype descriptions, and a proposal of a new classification based on morphologic findings.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the phenotype of fetuses affected by amniotic band sequence (ABS) that were diagnosed at the Instituto Nacional de Perinatología Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes and to propose a new classification based on morphologic findings.

Material And Methods: Cases with a final diagnosis of amniotic band sequence, diagnosed between January 1993 and July 2010 in the Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, were reviewed. Demographic, clinical, and periconceptional data were collected, and the defects were described and classified.

Association between selected structural defects and chromosomal abnormalities.

Objective: To determine the association between some major structural abnormalities detected prenatally by ultrasound and chromosomal abnormalities.

Material And Methods: The present study was a retrolective, transversal study. We analyzed case records of patients during the fetal follow-up at the Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine from January 1994 to May 2010 to identify fetal patients with a diagnosis of holoprosencephaly, diaphragmatic hernia, omphalocele, cystic hygroma, hydrops and cardiac defects.

Prenatal prevalence of skeletal dysplasias and a proposal ultrasonographic diagnosis approach.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of fetal bone dysplasias diagnosed at the Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine (UNIMEF) of the Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia (INPer); and to describe the most frequent skeletal dysplasias and to propose a diagnostic flow chart.

Materials And Methods: This is a case series study including skeletal dysplasias cases from January 1995 until December 2009 at the UNIMEF Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 12 statistical software.

Results: A total of 81,892 births were registered at the institution during the study period.

Major craniofacial defects: case series and prenatal diagnosis at the Instituto Nacional de Perinatología, Mexico.

Objective: To describe the prenatal diagnosis, characteristics, development, perinatal outcome, and final diagnosis of pregnancies complicated by fetuses with major craniofacial defects, at the Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia, México, 1997-2008.

Material And Methods: A retrospective, descriptive study from January of 1997 to January 2008, analyzed 152 pregnancies complicated by fetuses with major craniofacial defects, diagnosed at the Department of Fetal Medicine of the National Institute of Perinatology. Data were obtained from patients clinical records.

Accuracy of different equations for estimating fetal weight.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of ten equations based on ultrasound parameters for estimating fetal weight (FW).

Study Design: A cross-sectional study was performed in 250 healthy women with normal singleton pregnancies between 34 and 41 weeks of gestation. FW estimations calculated according to ten different equations were compared against birth weight (BW) which was determined within 72 h after FW estimation.