Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2000;22(4):217-223
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032000000400005
Purpose: to identify recurrent spontaneous abortion- associated factors. Subjects: one hundred seventy-five outpatients were investigated from March 1993 to March 1997 at the "Ambulatório de Aborto Recorrente CAISM/UNICAMP". All of them had had three or more consecutive spontaneous abortions and/or two abortions and were 35 years or more old. Methods: the investigation protocol included: couple's karyotype; hysterosalpingography, serial plasma progesterone levels and/or endometrial biopsy; toxoplasmosis, listeriosis, brucelosis, lues and cytomegalovirus serum tests; Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma hominis cultures of cervical discharge; TSH and thyroid hormone levels; fasting glucose; autoantibody panel, anti-HLA antibody search by microlymphocytotoxicity crossmatch and one-way mixed lymphocyte culture with inhibitor factor detection. Husband's evaluation included: physical evaluation, lues, Chagas' disease, B and C hepatitis and AIDS serum tests, microlymphocytotoxicity crossmatch and one-way mixed lymphocyte culture with inhibitor factor detection. Results: alloimmune etiology was the most frequently found factor (86.3% of studied patients), represented by negative crossmatch and one-way mixed lymphocyte culture with inhibitor factor below 50%. The second most frequently found factor was cervical incompetence (22.8%), followed by hormonal factor (21.2%), mainly represented by luteal insufficiency. Some patients were found to have more than one etiologic factor. Conclusion: the investigation of recurrent spontaneous abortion-associated factors must include alloimmune etiology. Most cases will remain unexplained without this investigation.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2000;22(1):27-32
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032000000100005
Purpose: to identify and quantify the underreporting of maternal mortality, from death certificates (DC) in Campinas, São Paulo, from 1992 to 1994. Methods: a total of 216 DC whose causes of death were maternal (declared and/or presumed) were selected among the 1032 DC of 10 to 49-year-old women. A complementary investigation was performed on hospital records, at the death verifying units, and in households. Results: eight additional maternal deaths were identified among the 204 DC with presumed maternal death. This corresponded to an underreporting rate of 40% or to a correction factor of 1.67 for the official MMR. The first cause of underreporting was abortion (71.5% or 05/07) and indirect maternal deaths represented the second cause (66.6% or 02/03). Conclusions: the death certificate cannot be considered the only source to identify maternal death. Complementary investigation of the presumable causes of maternal death should be performed. Legislation, social and religious factors might influence the underreporting of abortion as the cause of maternal death.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2005;27(2):80-85
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032005000200007
PURPOSE: to evaluate the evolution of pregnancy and the maternofetal prognosis in women with uterine leiomyomas. METHODS: a descriptive retrospective analysis of the medical records of 75 pregnant women with leiomyomas attended at the University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, from January 1992 to January 2002. RESULTS: seventy-five pregnant women with leiomyomas were identified in a population of 34,467 pregnant women attended during this period (incidence of 0.2%). The diagnosis was made before pregnancy in 18 patients (24%), during the current pregnancy in 41 (54.6%), and during cesarean section in 16 (21.3%), of whom only six were not submitted to ultrasound scan during the prenatal period. Ten deliveries with preterm fetuses and five cases of premature rupture of the amniotic membranes were observed. Forty-seven patients (75.8%) were submitted to cesarean section, with the indication being directly related to the leiomyomas in 38.3% of them (anomalous presentation, obstruction of the birth canal, or uterine scar due to a previous myomectomy). Four cases of central necrosis, two cases of hyaline degeneration and one case of malignant potential of the leiomyoma were identified in patients submitted to postpartum myomectomy or hysterectomy. Sixty-one newborns (98.4%) had an Apgar score above 7 at the fifth minute of life, and surgery did not lead to a worse maternofetal prognosis when performed during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: the incidence of leiomyomas during pregnancy was 0.2% during the study period, with ultrasonography failing to diagnose 10 patients. Cesarean section was frequently indicated for this group of patients, but the presence of leiomyomas during pregnancy did not compromise the Apgar score of the newborns.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2003;25(5):331-335
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032003000500005
PURPOSE: to evaluate whether there is an association between recurrent spontaneous abortion and atopy. METHODS: this was a case-control study with 230 women: 71 with a history of recurrent spontaneous abortion (group A) and 159 with a history of successful pregnancy (group B). The evaluation included a questionnaire in order to investigate the personal history of atopy, considering symptoms of atopic dermatitis, urticaria, rhinitis, asthma, conjunctivitis and gastric or intestinal symptoms. The presence of specific IgE in response to a pool of inhalants, Phadiatop, detected by an enzymatic fluorescence reaction in blood was also investigated. The data were analyzed by Fisher's exact test and a p value < 0.05 was set as level of significance. RESULTS: a positive history of atopy was observed in 57.7% of group A patients and in 55.3% of group B patients. The incidence of positive IgE against Phadiatop was 38% and 33.9% in groups A and B, respectively. Association of allergy disease with positive Phadiatop (presence of specific IgE) was detected in 28.2% of group A and in 22% of group B patients. There was no significant difference between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: we did not observe any association between recurrent spontaneous abortion and atopy.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2002;24(8):513-519
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032002000800003
Purpose: to study pregnancy in adolescent women as a possible risk factor for low birth weight. Material and Methods: a cross-wide study was performed on 562 adolescent and non-adolescent mothers who were interviewed during the first 24 h after delivery in the period from January 10,2002, to March 25, 2002, in a public maternity hospital located in Rio Branco, Acre State, Brazil. Those who delivered dead fetuses, whose babies died after being born, or had twins were excluded from the study. Results: among the 562 mothers who were studied, 37.0% (n=208) were teenagers (16±1.6 years), and 63.0% (n=354) were 20 or more years old (22.9±6.3 years). The average weight of the newborns was statistically higher (p<0.010) among the adult mothers (3,158.64±626.50 g) than among the adolescent mothers (3,019.93±587.43 g). When the 32 (5.7%) premature newborn babies (<37 week's pregnancy) were excluded, there was also a significantly greater proportion (p<0.007) of newborns with low weight (<2,500 g) among the adolescent mothers (11.9%) than among the non-adolescent ones (5.5%). The analysis of logistic regression showed an increased risk for newborns with low weight among the adolescent mothers (OR=2.99; 1.47-6.07), as well as for abortion (OR=2.78; 1.23-6.30) and pregnancy - induced hypertensive disorders (OR=5.16; 1.65-16.12). Conclusions: the present study shows that associated with the psychosocial, familial, and economic impact, already reported in the literature, pregnancy in adolescents is associated with deleterious effects on the conceptus, which requires a cohort study to assess the repercussions at both the medium- and long-term.