Obstetric and newborn infant outcomes in human immunodeficiency virus-infected women who receive highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Objective: Our aim was to examine perinatal outcomes in women who are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and who receive highly active antiretroviral therapy compared with the general population.

Study Design: In this retrospective cohort study, we compared 151 HIV-positive and 302 HIV-negative women. We defined highly active antiretroviral therapy as concomitant use of at least 3 antiretroviral drugs.

The effect of excess weight gain in teenage pregnancies.

Excess weight gain in pregnancy, as defined by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), has been linked to adverse obstetrical outcomes. However, this relationship has not been examined in the younger maternal population. Our aim was to study excess weight gain in our inner-city teenage population.

Maternal characteristics and outcomes associated with late enrollment for care in teenage pregnancies.

Objective: To identify characteristics associated with late prenatal care in adolescent mothers.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study reviews all nulliparous adolescent deliveries at the authors' institution during 2000-2004. Subjects were divided into three trimester groups using American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists standard definitions.

Prolonged intravenous therapy versus early transition to oral antimicrobial therapy for acute osteomyelitis in children.

Objectives: Early transition from intravenous to oral antimicrobial therapy for acute osteomyelitis in children has been suggested as a safe and effective alternative to traditional prolonged intravenous therapy via central venous catheter, but no studies have directly compared these 2 treatment modalities. We sought to compare the effectiveness of early transition from intravenous to oral antimicrobial therapy versus prolonged intravenous antimicrobial therapy for the treatment of children with acute osteomyelitis.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children aged 2 months to 17 years diagnosed with acute osteomyelitis between 2000 and 2005 at 29 freestanding children's hospitals in the United States to confirm the extent of variation in the use of early transition to oral therapy.

The effect of teenage maternal obesity on perinatal outcomes.

Objective: To estimate the effect of obesity on perinatal outcomes among inner-city teenage pregnant women.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed all nulliparous teenaged (aged 18 years and younger) deliveries at the Washington Hospital Center between 2000 and 2004. Overweight and obese teenagers (body mass index at or above 25.

A comparison of alternative risk-assessment strategies for predicting significant neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in term and near-term infants.

Objective: The purpose of this work was to compare the predictive accuracy of alternative risk-assessment strategies used to screen for the risk of significant neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 823 term and near-term newborns admitted to the well-infant nursery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Maternal, infant, and delivery risk factors for significant hyperbilirubinemia were obtained from chart review, structured interviews with parents, and nurse assessments before discharge.

Long-term evaluation of three multiple-case Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia families.

Purpose: Because the clinical significance of immunoglobulin abnormalities reported in relatives of familial Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) patients is unknown, we initiated a follow-up study of three WM families originally evaluated 27 years previously.

Experimental Design: Of 29 eligible first-degree relatives of WM patients, 27 (93%) had originally participated in clinical and electrophoretic evaluations. We re-contacted all participants for prospective follow-up electrophoretic analysis and other studies.

Direct medical cost of influenza-related hospitalizations in children.

Objective: Our goal was to determine the cost of influenza-related hospitalization in children with community-acquired laboratory-confirmed influenza and to identify predictors of high hospitalization costs.

Patients And Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients 21 years and younger hospitalized at a children's hospital with community-acquired laboratory-confirmed influenza during 4 consecutive influenza seasons (2000-2004). The main outcome measure was the direct medical cost of influenza-related hospitalizations, including the cost of diagnostics, therapeutics, room, and physician services.

Breast-feeding and Wilms tumor: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Objective: Previous research has shown that breast-feeding offers many nutritional benefits to children including protection against infection and possibly a decreased risk of childhood cancer. We investigated the association between breast-feeding and Wilms tumor, a childhood kidney tumor.

Methods: We used data from a large case-control study in the United States and Canada.