The Implementation of Preeclampsia Screening and Prevention (IMPRESS) Study.

Background: Preeclampsia affects between 2% and 5% of pregnancies and is one of the leading causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite strong evidence that the combination of systematic preeclampsia screening based on the Fetal Medicine Foundation preeclampsia risk calculation algorithm with treatment of high-risk patients with low-dose aspirin reduces the incidence of preterm preeclampsia more than currently used risk-factor-based screening, real-world implementation studies have not yet been done in Canada.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the operational feasibility of implementing first-trimester screening and prevention of preterm preeclampsia (<37 weeks) alongside a publicly funded first-trimester combined screening program for aneuploidies.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Safety and Immunogenicity of Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Immunization During Pregnancy and Subsequent Infant Immune Response.

Background: Immunization of pregnant women with tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap) provides protection against pertussis to the newborn infant.

Methods: In a randomized, controlled, observer-blind, multicenter clinical trial, we measured the safety and immunogenicity of Tdap during pregnancy and the effect on the infant's immune response to primary vaccination at 2, 4, and 6 months and booster vaccination at 12 months of age. A total of 273 women received either Tdap or tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine in the third trimester and provided information for the safety analysis and samples for the immunogenicity analyses; 261 infants provided serum for the immunogenicity analyses.

Is it possible to estimate the minimal clinically important treatment effect needed to change practice in preterm birth prevention? Results of an obstetrician survey used to support the design of a trial.

Background: Sample sizes for obstetrical trials are often based on the opinion of investigators about clinically important effect size. We surveyed Canadian obstetricians to investigate clinically important effect sizes required before introducing new treatments into practice to prevent preterm birth.

Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to practicing obstetricians, asking the magnitude of pregnancy prolongation required to introduce treatments into practice.

In Utero diagnosis and management of a fetus with homozygous α-Thalassemia in the second trimester: a case report and literature review.

Alpha thalassemia with the absence of 4 α-globin genes leads to fetal hydrops and fetal death from anemia. Historically considered a lethal condition, optimal in utero management of homozygous α-thalassemia is unclear. A fetus of Filipino descent at 26 weeks gestation presented with ultrasound evidence of anemia.

Hearing loss in the laminin-deficient dy mouse model of congenital muscular dystrophy.

Sensorineural hearing loss is found in many inherited forms of muscular dystrophy. We investigated the dy mouse model, which has congenital muscular dystrophy due to a defect in laminin alpha 2, for evidence of cochlear dysfunction. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) audiometry to pure tones was used to evaluate 3-month-old homozygous dy/dy and age-matched C57 control mice.