Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2023;45(1):11-20
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may cause irreversible organ damage. Pregnancy with SLE may have severe life-threatening risks. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in patients with SLE and analyze the parameters that contributed to cases of greater severity.
This is a cross-sectional retrospective study from analysis of data retrieved from medical records of pregnant women with SLE treated at a University Hospital in Brazil. The pregnant women were divided in a control group without complications, a group with potentially life-threatening conditions (PLTC), and a group with maternal near miss (MNM).
The maternal near miss rate was 112.9 per 1,000 live births. The majority of PLTC (83.9%) and MNM (92.9%) cases had preterm deliveries with statistically significant increased risk compared with the control group (p = 0.0042; odds ratio [OR]: 12.05; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5–96.6 for the MNM group and p = 0.0001; OR: 4.84; 95%CI: 2.2–10.8 for the PLTC group). Severe maternal morbidity increases the risk of longer hospitalization (p < 0.0001; OR: 18.8; 95%CI: 7.0–50.6 and p < 0.0001; OR: 158.17; 95%CI: 17.6–1424,2 for the PLTC and MNM groups, respectively), newborns with low birthweight (p = 0.0006; OR: 3.67; 95%CI: 1.7–7.9 and p = 0.0009; OR: 17.68; 95%CI: 2–153.6) for the PLTC and MNM groups, respectively] as well as renal diseases (PLTC [8.9%; 33/56; p = 0.0069] and MNM [78.6%; 11/14; p = 0.0026]). Maternal near miss cases presented increased risk for neonatal death (p = 0.0128; OR: 38.4; 95%CI: 3.3–440.3]), and stillbirth and miscarriage (p = 0.0011; OR: 7.68; 95%CI: 2.2–26.3]).
Systemic lupus erythematosus was significantly associated with severe maternal morbidity, longer hospitalizations, and increased risk of poor obstetric and neonatal outcomes.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2020;42(3):124-132
To assess the use of the intensive care unit (ICU) and its effect on maternal mortality (MM) among women with severe maternal morbidity (SMM).
A secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study on surveillance of SMM in 27 Brazilian obstetric referral centers. The analysis focused on the association between ICU use and maternal death according to individual characteristics and disease severity. Two multivariate regressions considering use of the ICU, age, ethnicity, adequacy of care and the human development index were performed to identify the factors associated to maternal death and maternal near-miss.
Out of 82,388 deliveries during the period, there were 9,555 (11.6%) women with SMM, and the MM ratio was of 170.4/100 thousand live births. In total, 8,135 (85.1%) patients were managed in facilities in which ICUs were available; however, only 2,059 (25.3%) had been admitted to the ICU. On the multivariate analysis, when the severity of the maternal disease was measured by the maternal severity score (MMS), the strength of the association between the use of the ICU and maternal death was greatly reduced, along with inadequate care and non-availability of the ICU at the facility. On the assessment of only the more critical cases (SMO, severe maternal outcome), the same pattern of association between ICU and MM was observed. In the models used, only inadequate care and MSS were significantly associated with MM.
The current study indicates that the main variables associated with maternal death are the severity and adequacy of the case management, which is more frequent in ICU admissions. The use of the ICU without the stratification of the patients by severity may not produce the expected benefits for part of the women.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2018;40(3):106-114
The aim of this study is to evaluate the burden of indirect causes of maternal morbidity/mortality in Brazil.
Secondary analysis of a multicenter cross-sectional study conducted in 27 referral obstetric units within the Brazilian Network for Surveillance of Severe Maternal Morbidity.
A total of 82,388 women were surveilled: 9,555 women with severe maternal morbidity were included, and 942 (9.9%) of them had indirect causes of morbidity/ mortality. There was an increased risk of higher severity among the indirect causes group, which presented 7.56 times increased risk of maternal death (prevalence ratio [PR]: 7.56; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 4.99-11.45). The main indirect causes of maternal death were H1N1 influenza, sepsis, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Non-public antenatal care (PR: 2.52; 95%CI: 1.70-3.74), diabetes (PR: 1.90; 95%CI: 1.24-2.90), neoplasia (PR: 1.98; 95%CI: 1.25-3.14), kidney diseases (PR: 1.99; 95%CI: 1.14-3.49), sickle cell anemia (PR: 2.50; 95%CI: 1.16-5.41) and drug addiction (PR: 1.98; 95%CI: 1.03-3.80) were independentlyassociatedwithworseresultsintheindirectcausesgroup.Someprocedures for the management of severity were more common for the indirect causes group.
Indirect causes were present in less than 10% of the overall cases, but they represented over 40% of maternal deaths in the current study. Indirect causes of maternal morbidity/mortality were also responsible for an increased risk of higher severity, and they were associated with worse maternal and perinatal outcomes. In middle-income countries there is a mix of indirect causes of maternal morbidity/ mortality that points to some advances in the scale of obstetric transition, but also reveals the fragility of health systems.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2017;39(5):209-216
In 2013, it was estimated that 289,000 maternal deaths occurred worldwide. The maternal mortality ratio has decreased in many countries in the past decades, due to early identification and treatment of obstetric complications, despite the dissimilarities observed in diverse locations and populations. Black women, for instance, have always been more susceptible to the occurrence of maternal mortality and severe morbidity. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess skin color as a predictive factor for maternal near miss (MNM) in a sample of Brazilian women interviewed in the Brazilian National Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 2006.
A secondary analysis of the DHS database, a population-based crosssectional nationally representative study was conducted. This database is of public domain. The risk of maternal complications according to ethnic group and the associated sociodemographic characteristics were evaluated. For the data analysis, the odds ratios and respective 95% confidence intervals were calculated.
In the sample interviewed, 59% of women were black or brown (mixed-race). Approximately 23% of women had some complication, and 2% of these women had at least one MNM pragmatic criterion. The MNM rate was 31 per 1,000 live births, and its occurrence was not statistically different among the ethnic groups. The only factors identified that were considered to be associated with the occurrence of MNM were maternal age above 40 and women not currently attending school, but only among white women.
The 2006 DHS results did not show a higher occurrence of maternal complications, and specifically of MNM associated with black/brown skin color.