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The chr12q24.13 locus encoding OAS1–OAS3 antiviral proteins has been associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) susceptibility. Here, we report genetic, functional and clinical insights into this locus in relation to COVID-19 severity. In our analysis of patients of European (n = 2,249) and African (n = 835) ancestries with hospitalized versus nonhospitalized COVID-19, the risk of hospitalized disease was associated with a common OAS1 haplotype, which was also associated with reduced severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) clearance in a clinical trial with pegIFN-λ1. Bioinformatic analyses and in vitro studies reveal the functional contribution of two associated OAS1 exonic variants comprising the risk haplotype. Derived human-specific alleles rs10774671-A and rs1131454-A decrease OAS1 protein abundance through allele-specific regulation of splicing and nonsense-mediated decay (NMD). We conclude that decreased OAS1 expression due to a common haplotype contributes to COVID-19 severity. Our results provide insight into molecular mechanisms through which early treatment with interferons could accelerate SARS-CoV-2 clearance and mitigate against severe COVID-19.

Background We examined the relationship between placental histopathology and transplacental antibody transfer in pregnant patients after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Methods Differences in plasma concentrations of anti-receptor biding domain (RBD) immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies in maternal and cord blood were analyzed according to presence of placental injury. Results Median anti-RBD IgG concentrations in cord blood with placental injury (n = 7) did not differ significantly from those without injury (n = 16) (median 2.7 [interquartile range {IQR}, 1.8–3.6] vs 2.7 [IQR, 2.4–2.9], P = 0.59). However, they were associated with lower transfer ratios (median 0.77 [IQR, 0.61–0.97] vs 0.97 [IQR, 0.80–1.01], P = 0.05). Conclusions SARS-CoV-2 placental injury may mediate reduced maternal-fetal antibody transfer.

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) cause substantial preventable maternal morbidity and mortality. Postpartum hypertension that worsens after women are discharged is particularly...

Objective To understand perceived quality of obstetric care following changes to the structure of care in a safety-net institution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a mixed-methods study including a web-based survey (n = 67) and in-depth interviews (n = 16) between October 2020 and January 2021. We present a descriptive analysis of quantitative results and key qualitative themes on reactions to changes and drivers of perceived quality. Results Reported quality was high for in-person and phone visits (median subscale responses: 5/5). Respondents were willing to include phone visits in care for a future pregnancy (77.8% (49)) but preferred in-person visits (84.1% (53)). In interviews, provider communication was the key driver of quality. Respondents found changes to care to be inconvenient but acceptable. Conclusions To improve satisfaction with changes to care, health systems should ensure that relationship building remains a priority and offer patients information about the reason behind changes.

The majority of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 will have mild or asymptomatic disease, however, obstetric patients are uniquely at risk for disease progression and adverse outcomes. Preventive strategies including masking, physical distancing, vaccination, and chemoprophylaxis have been well studied, are critical to disease mitigation, and can be used in the pregnant population. High-quality data are needed to assess safety and effectiveness of therapeutics and vaccination in pregnancy, as well as long-term data on maternal and newborn outcomes.

Background Gestational weight gain above Institute of Medicine recommendations is associated with increased risk of pregnancy complications. The goal was to analyze the association between newer HIV antiretroviral regimens (ART) on gestational weight gain. Methods A retrospective cohort study of pregnant women with HIV-1 on ART. The primary outcome was incidence of excess gestational weight gain. Treatment effects were estimated by ART regimen type using log-linear models for relative risk (RR), adjusting for prepregnancy BMI and presence of detectable viral load at baseline. Results Three hundred three pregnant women were included in the analysis. Baseline characteristics, including prepregnancy BMI, viral load at prenatal care entry, and gestational age at delivery were similar by ART, including 53% of the entire cohort had initiated ART before pregnancy (P = nonsignificant). Excess gestational weight gain occurred in 29% of the cohort. Compared with non–integrase strand transfer inhibitor (-INSTI) or tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF)–exposed persons, receipt of INSTI+TAF showed a 1.7-fold increased RR of excess gestational weight gain (95% CI: 1.18–2.68; P Conclusions Pregnant women receiving ART with a combined regimen of INSTI and TAF have increased risk of excess gestational weight gain.

Understanding of the immune response following COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy is limited by small cohort size and little data on neutralizing antibody.This was a prospective cohort study comprising patients with PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and patients who received both doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273, BNT162b2) in pregnancy recruited from two hospitals in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Maternal and cord blood at delivery was assayed for anti-Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) -IgG, -IgA and -IgM and neutralizing antibody. The detection of antibodies, titers, and maternal-to-fetal transfer ratios were compared.Nearly all patients had detectable RBD-IgG in maternal and cord samples. The vaccinated vs. infected cohort had a significantly greater proportion of cord samples with detectable neutralizing antibody (94% vs 28%, p 0.0001) and significantly higher transfer ratios for RBD-IgG and neutralizing antibodies with a transfer efficiency of 105% (vs 80%, p 0.0001) and 110% (vs 90%, p 0.0001), respectively. There was a significant linear decline in maternal and cord blood RBD-IgG and neutralizing antibody titers as time from vaccination to delivery increased.Those who receive the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine mount an immune response that is equivalent to - if not greater than- those naturally infected by SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection in pregnancy is associated with robust maternal immune response and neutralizing potency; however, antibody transfer across the placenta is less than expected., OBJECTIVE: To characterize maternal immune response after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection during pregnancy and quantify the efficiency of transplacental antibody transfer. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of pregnant patients who tested positive for SARS CoV-2 infection at any point in pregnancy and collected paired maternal and cord blood samples at the time of delivery. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and neutralization assays were performed to measure maternal plasma and cord blood concentrations and neutralizing potency of immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgA, and IgM antibodies directed against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Differences in concentrations according to symptomatic compared with asymptomatic infection and time from positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result to delivery were analyzed using nonparametric tests of significance. The ratio of cord to maternal anti–receptor-binding domain IgG titers was analyzed to assess transplacental transfer efficiency. RESULTS: Thirty-two paired samples were analyzed. Detectable anti–receptor-binding domain IgG was detected in 100% (n=32) of maternal and 91% (n=29) of cord blood samples. Functional neutralizing antibody was present in 94% (n=30) of the maternal and 25% (n=8) of cord blood samples. Symptomatic infection was associated with a significant difference in median (interquartile range) maternal anti–receptor-binding domain IgG titers compared with asymptomatic infection (log 3.2 [3.5–2.4] vs log 2.7 [2.9–1.4], P=.03). Median (interquartile range) maternal anti–receptor-binding domain IgG titers were not significantly higher in patients who delivered more than 14 days after a positive PCR test result compared with those who delivered within 14 days (log 3.3 [3.5–2.4] vs log 2.67 [2.8–1.6], P=.05). Median (range) cord/maternal antibody ratio was 0.81 (0.67–0.88). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate robust maternal neutralizing and anti–receptor-binding domain IgG response after SARS-CoV-2 infection, yet a lower-than-expected efficiency of transplacental antibody transfer and a significant reduction in neutralization between maternal blood and cord blood. Maternal infection does confer some degree of neonatal antibody protection, but the robustness and durability of protection require further study.

COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic in March 2020. Since then, our understanding of its effects on pregnancy have evolved rapidly. Emerging surveillance data and large cohort studies suggest pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of ICU hospitalization, invasive ventilation, and death. Pregnancies complicated by SARS-CoV-2 infection are associated with increased likelihood of cesarean delivery and preterm birth. Intrauterine transmission occurs, but seems to be rare. Critical gaps remain, and rigorous, high-quality data are needed to better ascertain pregnancy risks and to inform antenatal and obstetric management., COVID-19 during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and obstetric outcomes.

Objective The aim of the study is to compare rates of prenatal care utilization before and after implementation of a telehealth-supplemented prenatal care model due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Study Design Using electronic medical record data, we identified two cohorts of pregnant persons that initiated prenatal care prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic following the implementation of telehealth (from March 1, 2019 through August 31, 2019, and from March 1, 2020, through August 31, 2020, respectively) at Grady Memorial Hospital. We used Pearson's Chi-square and two-tailed t-tests to compare rates of prenatal care utilization, antenatal screening and immunizations, emergency department and obstetric triage visits, and pregnancy complications for the prepandemic versus pandemic-exposed cohorts. Results We identified 1,758 pregnant patients; 965 entered prenatal care prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and 793 entered during the pandemic. Patients in the pandemic-exposed cohort were more likely to initiate prenatal care in the first trimester (46.1 vs. 39.0%, p = 0.01), be screened for gestational diabetes (74.4 vs. 67.0%, p Conclusion Rates of prenatal care utilization were similar before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, pregnant persons receiving prenatal care during the pandemic entered care earlier and had higher utilization of certain antenatal screening services than those receiving prenatal care prior to the pandemic. Key Points

To analyze differences in the demographic and social factors associated with pregnancy-associated violent deaths due to homicide compared with suicide by pregnancy timing.This was a retrospective cohort study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Violent Death Reporting System from 2008 to 2019. We included females aged 15-44 years who died by suicide , defined as intentional self-harm, or homicide. Pregnancy-associated deaths were defined as those that occurred during or within 1 year of pregnancy.Of 38,417 female victims aged 15-44 years identified in the data set, 10,411 had known pregnancy status; 1,300 of those deaths were pregnancy associated. Of all deaths with known pregnancy status, 3,203 were by homicide (30.8%) and 7,208 (69.2%) were by suicide. Pregnancy-associated homicide deaths made up 20.6% of all homicide deaths, and pregnancy-associated suicide deaths made up 8.8% of all suicide deaths. Individuals who died by homicide were younger (29.4±8.2 years vs 31.5±8.6 years), more likely to be single or never married (61.0% vs 50.0%), and had a higher proportion of associate's degree-level education or less as compared with individuals who died by suicide (28.1% vs 43.9%). Of individuals who died by homicide, 37.7% were Black or African American, 13.4% were Hispanic, and 56.0%% were White. In comparison, 6.9% of individuals who died by suicide were Black or African American, 8.0% were Hispanic, and 85.0% were White. Having a mental health problem and any substance use were significantly more often associated with suicide deaths compared with homicide deaths (77.4% vs 7.2%, P.001 for mental health, 33.3% vs 12.8%, P.001 for substance use, respectively). Intimate partner violence was prevalent in both groups, although significantly higher in homicide deaths (57.3% vs 37.1%, P.001). This pattern persisted when stratified by pregnancy status.Mental health problems, substance use disorder, and intimate partner violence are preceding circumstances to pregnancy-associated suicide and homicide.

We examined the relationship between placental histopathology and transplacental antibody transfer in pregnant patients following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Differences in plasma concentrations of anti-Receptor Biding Domain (RBD) Immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies in maternal and cord blood were analyzed according to presence of placental injury. Median [IQR] anti-RBD IgG concentrations in cord blood with placental injury (n = 7) did not differ significantly from those without injury (n= 16) [(2.7 [1.8,3.6] vs 2.7[2.4, 2.9], p= 0.59). However, they were associated with lower transfer ratios (median [IQR] 0.77[0.61, 0.97] vs. 0.97[0.80, 1.01], p = 0.05) suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 placental injury mediates reduced maternal-fetal antibody transfer.

Background The use of billing codes (ICD-10) to identify and track cases of gestational and pregestational diabetes during pregnancy is common in clinical quality improvement, research, and surveillance. However, specific diagnoses may be misclassified using ICD-10 codes, potentially biasing estimates. The goal of this study is to provide estimates of validation parameters (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value) for pregestational and gestational diabetes diagnosis using ICD-10 diagnosis codes compared with medical record abstraction at a large public hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Methods This study includes 3,654 deliveries to Emory physicians at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, between 2016 and 2018. We linked information abstracted from the medical record to ICD-10 diagnosis codes for gestational and pregestational diabetes during the delivery hospitalization. Using the medical record as the gold standard, we calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for each. Results For both pregestational and gestational diabetes, ICD-10 codes had a high-negative predictive value (>99%, Table 3) and specificity (>99%). For pregestational diabetes, the sensitivity was 85.9% (95% CI = 78.8, 93.0) and positive predictive value 90.8% (95% CI = 85, 97). For gestational diabetes, the sensitivity was 95% (95% CI = 92, 98) and positive predictive value 86% (95% CI = 81, 90). Conclusions In a large public hospital, ICD-10 codes accurately identified cases of pregestational and gestational diabetes with low numbers of false positives.

Background Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of preventable maternal morbidity and mortality. Standardized response to obstetric hemorrhage is associated with significant improvement in maternal outcomes, yet implementation can be challenging.Objective The primary objective is to describe the methodology for program implementation of the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Safety Bundle on PPH at an urban safety-net hospital.Methods Over an 18-month period, interventions geared toward (1) risk assessment and stratification, (2) hemorrhage identification and management, (3) team communication and simulation, and (4) debriefs and case review were implemented. Hemorrhage risk assessment stratification rates were tracked overtime as an early measure of bundle compliance.Results Hemorrhage risk assessment stratification rates improved to >90% during bundle implementation.Conclusion Keys to implementation included multidisciplinary stakeholder commitment, stepwise and iterative approach, and parallel systems for monitoring and evaluation Implementation of a PPH safety bundle is feasible in a resource-constrained setting.

Background Self-collected HPV screening may improve cervical cancer screening coverage in low resource countries, yet data guiding implementation and follow-up of abnormal results are sparse. Methods This is a prospective cohort implementation study of HPV self-testing program in Mbarara, Uganda with mobile phones to facilitate result notification and referral for treatment at a regional hospital. The effectiveness of the interventions was analyzed using Proctor’s model of implementation. Women were interviewed following screening and at 6 months to assess acceptability and barriers to follow-up. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results 159 of 194 (82%) of eligible women underwent HPV self-sampling; of these, 27 (17%) returned positive for high-risk HPV subtypes. We sent SMS messages providing test results and follow-up instructions to all participants. Seventeen (63%) hrHPV-positive participants reported receiving SMS text instructions for follow-up, of whom 6 (35%) presented for follow-up. The most common reasons for not returning were: lack of transportation (n = 11), disbelief of results (n = 5), lack of childcare (n = 4), and lack of symptoms (n = 3). Confidence in test results was higher for self-screening compared to VIA (Likert score 4.8 vs 4.4, P = 0.001). Conclusions Despite the use of SMS text-based referrals, only one-third of women presented for clinical follow-up after abnormal HPV testing.

We conducted a cohort study to determine sociodemographic risk factors for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection among obstetric patients in 2 urban hospitals in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Prevalence of infection was highest among women who were Hispanic, were uninsured, or lived in high-density neighborhoods.

Background Identification of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy research often uses hospital International Classification of Diseases v. 10 (ICD-10) codes meant for billing purposes, which may introduce misclassification error relative to medical records. We estimated the validity of ICD-10 codes for hypertensive disorders during pregnancy overall and by subdiagnosis, compared with medical record diagnosis, in a Southeastern United States high disease burden hospital. Methods We linked medical record data with hospital discharge records for deliveries between 1 July 2016, and 30 June 2018, in an Atlanta, Georgia, public hospital. For any hypertensive disorder (with and without unspecified codes) and each subdiagnosis (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count [HELLP] syndrome, eclampsia, preeclampsia with and without severe features, chronic hypertension, superimposed preeclampsia, and gestational hypertension), we calculated positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) sensitivity, and specificity for ICD-10 codes compared with medical record diagnoses (gold standard). Results Thirty-seven percent of 3,654 eligible pregnancies had a clinical diagnosis of any hypertensive disorder during pregnancy. Overall, ICD-10 codes identified medical record diagnoses well (PPV, NPV, specificity >90%; sensitivity >80%). PPV, NPV, and specificity were high for all subindicators (>80%). Sensitivity estimates were high for superimposed preeclampsia, chronic hypertension, and gestational hypertension (>80%); moderate for eclampsia (66.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 22.3%, 95.7%), HELLP (75.0%; 95% CI = 50.9%, 91.3%), and preeclampsia with severe features (58.3%; 95% CI = 52.6%, 63.8%); and low for preeclampsia without severe features (3.2%; 95% CI, 1.4%, 6.2%). Conclusions We provide bias parameters for future US-based studies of hypertensive outcomes during pregnancy in high-burden populations using hospital ICD-10 codes.

To describe clinical characteristics of pregnant and postpartum women with severe COVID-19 in Brazil and to examine risk factors for mortality.Cross-sectional study based on secondary surveillance database analysis.Nationwide Brazil.978 Brazilian pregnant and postpartum women notified as COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) cases with complete outcome (death or cure) up to 18 June 2020.Data was abstracted from the Brazilian ARDS Surveillance System (ARDS-SS) database. All eligible cases were included. Data on demographics, clinical characteristics, intensive care resources use and outcomes were collected. Risk factors for mortality were examined by multivariate logistic regression.Case fatality rate.We identified 124 maternal deaths, corresponding to a case fatality rate among COVID-19 ARDS cases in the obstetric population of 12.7%. At least one comorbidity was present in 48.4% of fatal cases compared with 24.9% in survival cases. Among women who died, 58.9% were admitted to ICU, 53.2% had invasive ventilation and 29.0% had no respiratory support. The multivariate logistic regression showed that the main risk factors for maternal death by COVID-19 were being postpartum at onset of ARDS, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, whereas white ethnicity had a protective effect.Negative outcomes of COVID-19 in this population are affected by clinical characteristics but social determinants of health also seem to play a role. It is urgent to reinforce containment measures targeting the obstetric population and ensure high quality care throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period.A total of 124 COVID-19 maternal deaths were identified in Brazil. Symptoms onset at postpartum and comorbidities are risk factors.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are a leading cause of severe maternal morbidity (SMM), yet mediation by cesarean delivery is largely unexplored. We investigated the association between HDP and SMM in a cohort of deliveries at a safety-net institution in Atlanta, Georgia, during 2016–2018. Using multivariable generalized linear models, we estimated adjusted risk differences, adjusted risk ratios, and 95% confidence intervals for the association between HDP and SMM. We examined interactions with cesarean delivery and used mediation analysis with 4-way decomposition to estimate excess relative risks. Among 3,723 deliveries, the SMM rate for women with and without HDP was 124.4 per 1,000 and 52.0 per 1,000, respectively. The adjusted risk ratio for the total effect of HDP on SMM was 2.55 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.15, 3.39). Approximately 55.2% (95% CI: 25.7, 68.5) of excess relative risk was due to neither interaction nor mediation, 24.9% (95% CI: 15.4, 50.0) was due to interaction between HDP and cesarean delivery, 9.6% (95% CI: 3.4, 15.2) was due to mediation, and 10.3% (95% CI: 5.4, 20.3) was due to mediation and interaction. HDP are a potentially modifiable risk factor for SMM; implementing evidence-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of HDP is critical for reducing SMM risk.

Background Reductions in neonatal mortality remain stagnant, despite gains in health care access and utilization. Nutrition interventions during antenatal care (ANC) and in the immediate postpartum period are associated with improved neonatal outcomes. Adjusting coverage estimates for the quality of care provided yields greater insight into health system performance and potential population health benefits of accessing care. In this cross-sectional study, we adjust maternity care coverage measures for quality of nutrition interventions to determine the impact on infant birth weight and breastfeeding. Methods We used household data from the Malawi 2013-2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey to assess use of maternal health services and direct observations of ANC and delivery from the 2013 Service Provision Assessment to measure nutrition interventions provided. We adjusted coverage measures combining self-reported utilization of care with the likelihood of receipt of nutrition interventions. Using adjusted log-linear regression, we estimated the associations of these nutrition quality-adjusted metrics with infant birthweight and immediate breastfeeding. Results Health facility data provided over 2500 directly observed clinical encounters and household data provided 7385 individual reports of health care utilization and outcomes. Utilization of ANC and facility-delivery was high. Women received nutrition-related interventions considerably less often than they sought care: over the course of ANC women received a median of 1.6 interventions on iron, 1 instance of nutrition counseling, and 0.06 instances of breastfeeding counseling. Nutrition quality-adjusted ANC coverage was associated with a reduced risk of low birthweight (adjusted relative risk [ARR] 0.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.79, 0.96) and increased likelihood of immediate breastfeeding (ARR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.07); nutrition quality-adjusted post-delivery care was also associated with greater uptake of immediate breastfeeding (ARR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.14). Based on these models, delivering nutrition interventions consistently within the existing level of coverage would decrease population prevalence of low birthweight from 13.7% to 10.8% and increase population prevalence of immediate breastfeeding from 75.9% to 86.0%. Conclusions Linking household survey data to health service provision assessments demonstrates that despite high utilization of maternal health services in Malawi, low provision of nutrition interventions is undermining infant health. Substantial gains in newborn health are possible in Malawi if quality of existing services is strengthened.

To compare the age-specific incidence of complete (CM) and partial molar (PM) pregnancy in a large tertiary care center in the United States.Incidence rates of CM and PM per 10,000 live births were calculated using databases from Brigham and Women's Hospital, between 2000 and 2013. Age-specific rates were calculated for women younger than 20 years old (adolescents), 20-39 years old (average age), and 40 years and older (advanced maternal age). Pearson χ(2) test was used to evaluate potential differences among groups. Rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to compare risk of molar pregnancy among average age women with that of adolescents and women of advanced age. Holm-Bonferonni adjustment was used to correct for multiple comparisons.Between 2000 and 2013, there were 255 molar pregnancies (140 CM and 115 PM) and 105,942 live births, corresponding to a molar pregnancy rate of 24 per 10,000 live births (95% CI 21-27). Rates of CM and PM were 13 (95% CI 11-16) and 11 (95% CI 9-14) per 10,000 live births respectively. The incidence of CM differed significantly among maternal age groups (p0.001). Compared to average age women, adolescents were 7.0 times as likely to develop CM (95% CI 3.6-8.9, p0.001), and women with advanced maternal age were nearly twice as likely (1.9, 95% CI 1.8-4.7, p=0.002). The rate of PM did not vary significantly among age groups (p=0.26).Adolescence and advanced maternal age were associated with increased risk of complete mole, but not partial mole.

Universal health coverage has been proposed as a strategy to improve health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, this is contingent on the provision of good-quality health care. We estimate the excess mortality for conditions targeted in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that are amenable to health care and the portion of this excess mortality due to poor-quality care in 137 LMICs, in which excess mortality refers to deaths that could have been averted in settings with strong health systems.Using data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease study, we calculated mortality amenable to personal health care for 61 SDG conditions by comparing case fatality between each LMIC with corresponding numbers from 23 high-income reference countries with strong health systems. We used data on health-care utilisation from population surveys to separately estimate the portion of amenable mortality attributable to non-utilisation of health care versus that attributable to receipt of poor-quality care.15·6 million excess deaths from 61 conditions occurred in LMICs in 2016. After excluding deaths that could be prevented through public health measures, 8·6 million excess deaths were amenable to health care of which 5·0 million were estimated to be due to receipt of poor-quality care and 3·6 million were due to non-utilisation of health care. Poor quality of health care was a major driver of excess mortality across conditions, from cardiovascular disease and injuries to neonatal and communicable disorders.Universal health coverage for SDG conditions could avert 8·6 million deaths per year but only if expansion of service coverage is accompanied by investments into high-quality health systems.BillMelinda Gates Foundation.

Objectives The objective of this study was to characterize chemotherapy treatment patterns in elderly patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and their impact on overall survival (OS). Methods We identified patients age ≥65years with stage II–IV EOC who underwent cytoreduction from 2003 to 2011. Relevant clinical variables were extracted and correlated with OS. Statistical analyses were performed using logistic regression, Kaplan–Meier methods, and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. Results One hundred and eighty-four patients were included in the analysis. The average age was 73years with American Society of Anesthesiology Physical Status Class 2 or 3. Approximately 78% underwent primary debulking surgery (PDS). OS for the entire cohort was 3.3years. One hundred and fifty-seven patients received adjuvant chemotherapy, of which 70% received initial platinum-based doublet therapy; 67.5% of patients were able to complete the intended six cycles of chemotherapy; of these, 34% experienced a dose reduction and 45% experienced one or more dose delays. Any dose delay was associated with a decrease in overall survival (p=0.02) and remained significant even after controlling for age, stage, and residual disease and number of chemotherapy cycles received (p=0.029). Conclusions Elderly EOC patients frequently required chemotherapy dose reductions and delays in chemotherapy administration. Multivariate analysis confirmed that dose delays are an independent factor associated with decreased OS.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to identify factors associated with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) after partial molar pregnancy.MethodsWe retrospectively evaluated clinical data from 111 patients with a partial molar pregnancy between 1995 and 2010.ResultsA total of 111 patients with a partial molar pregnancy were available for analysis. There was no significant difference between patients who did and did not develop GTN with respect to patient age, parity, history of prior molar pregnancy, presenting signs/symptoms, uterine size greater than gestational age, clinical diagnosis, preevacuation sonogram findings, or the preevacuation human chorionic gonadotropin value. Patients who developed GTN had fewer prior pregnancies (median, 2 vs 3; P = 0.02) and were more likely to have had a partial molar pregnancy as their first gestational event (37.1% vs 17.1%; P = 0.03). Among the 35 patients who developed GTN, the median time to diagnosis of GTN was 47 days (range, 25–119 days), and the median human chorionic gonadotropin value at the time of GTN diagnosis was 475 mIU/mL (range, 20–52,630 mIU/mL). All women (100%) who developed GTN had stage I disease, and all patients (100%) had low-risk GTN. All 35 women (100%) were able to achieve remission, and most (85.7%) of these patients received methotrexate as first-line chemotherapy.ConclusionsWomen with a partial molar pregnancy as their first gestational event and diagnosed earlier in gestation are more likely to develop postmolar GTN.

To quantify the effect of race/ethnicity on risk of complete and partial molar pregnancy.We conducted a cross-sectional study including women who were followed for complete or partial mole and those who had a live singleton birth in a teaching hospital in the northeastern United States between 2000 and 2013. We calculated race/ethnicity-specific risk of complete and partial mole per 10,000 live births, and used logistic regression to estimate crude and age-adjusted relative risks (RR) of complete and partial mole.We identified 140 cases of complete mole, 115 cases of partial mole, and 105,942 live births. The risk of complete mole was 13 cases per 10,000 live births (95% confidence interval [CI] 11-16) and that of partial mole was 11 cases per 10,000 live births (95% CI 9-13). After age-adjustment, Asians were more likely to develop complete mole (RR 2.3 95% CI 1.4-3.8, p0.001) but less likely to develop partial mole (RR 0.2; 95% CI 0.04-0.7, p=0.02) than whites. Blacks were significantly less likely than whites to develop partial mole (RR 0.4; 95% CI 0.2-0.8, p=0.01) but only marginally less likely to develop complete mole (RR 0.6; 95% CI 0.3-1.0, p=0.07). Hispanics were less likely than whites to develop complete mole (RR 0.4; 95% CI 0.2-0.7, p=0.002) and partial mole (RR 0.4; 95% CI 0.2-0.9, p=0.02).Race/ethnicity is a significant risk factor for both complete and partial molar pregnancy in the northeastern United States.

The aim of this study was to compare the clinical presentation and incidence of postmolar gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) among cases of complete mole (CM) and partial mole (PM) from 1994 to 2013.This study included all cases of patients with CM and PM from our trophoblastic disease center between 1994 and 2013. Their clinical and pathologic reports were reviewed. Gestational age at evacuation, features of clinical presentation, human chorionic gonadotropin levels, and the rate of progression to GTN were compared.The median gestational age at evacuation was 9 weeks for CM and 12 weeks for PM (P0.001). Patients with PM had lower pre-evacuation serum human chorionic gonadotropin levels (P0.001), and they were also less likely to present with vaginal bleeding (P0.001), biochemical hyperthyroidism (P0.001), anemia (P0.001), uterine size greater than dates (P0.001), and hyperemesis (P = 0.002). Consequently, patients with PM were less likely to have been clinically diagnosed as moles compared with CM prior to uterine evacuation (P0.001). The development of GTN occurred in 17.7% (33/186) and 4.1% (7/169) of patients with CM and PM, respectively (P0.001).This study indicates that, at our center over the past 20 years, both CM and PM were usually evacuated in the first trimester of pregnancy. Because CM more commonly presents with the signs and symptoms of molar disease than PM, CM is more commonly diagnosed prior to evacuation.

Global Health: Role of HPV Testing in Resource Poor Environment Eighty-five percent of cervical cancer deaths occur in the developing world. While cervical cancer is only the tenth most common cancer in women in developed countries, it is the leading cause of cancer related deaths in women in low and middleincome countries (LMICs). Despite this, there is a disproportionate allocation of cervical-cancer related resources in countries with the highest burden. Cervical cancer is preventable and amenable to early detection and treatment. Over the past two decades, largescale data investigating low cost screening interventions have demonstrated efficacy of cervical cancer prevention in many continents.

The reported incidence of molar pregnancy varies widely among different geographic locations. This variation has been attributed, at least in part, to racial/ethnic differences. While the incidence of molar pregnancies is decreasing, certain ethnic groups such as Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians continue to have an increased risk of developing gestational trophoblastic disease across the globe.We sought to describe the potential effect of ethnicity/race on the presentation and clinical course of complete mole and partial mole.All patients followed up for complete mole and partial mole at a single institution referral center from 1994 through 2013 were identified. Variables including age, race, gravidity, parity, gestational age, presenting signs/symptoms, serum human chorionic gonadotropin values, and development of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia were extracted from medical records and patient surveys. Patients with complete mole and partial mole were categorized into race/ethnicity groups defined as white, black, Asian, or Hispanic. Due to low numbers of non-white patients with partial mole in each non-white category, patients with partial mole were grouped as white or non-white. Continuous variables were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test and binary variables were compared using the Fisher exact test.A total of 167 complete mole patients with known race/ethnicity status were included (57.48% white, 14.97% Asian, 14.37% black, 13.17% Hispanic). Hispanics presented at younger age (median 24.5 years) compared to whites (median 32.0 years, P = .04) and Asians (median 31.0 years, P = .03). Blacks had higher gravidity than whites (P .001) and Hispanics (P = .05). There was no significant difference in presenting symptoms, gestational age at diagnosis, and preevacuation serum human chorionic gonadotropin level by race/ethnicity. Hispanics were significantly less likely than whites to develop gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (absolute risk difference, 28.6%; 95% confidence interval, 8.1-39.2%; P = .02). A total of 144 patients with partial mole were analyzed. There were 108 white and 36 non-white patients. Median age was 31 years for white and 29 years for non-white patients (P = .006). Median gravidity was 2 for white and 3 for non-white patients (P.001), and median parity was 0 for white patients and 1 for non-white patients (P = .003). There were no significant differences with respect to presenting signs and symptoms, gestational age, preevacuation human chorionic gonadotropin level, or risk of progression to gestational trophoblastic neoplasia.Hispanic patients with complete molar pregnancy had a significantly lower risk of developing gestational trophoblastic neoplasia than white patients. There were no significant differences among groups in terms of presenting symptoms, gestational age at diagnosis, or preevacuation human chorionic gonadotropin levels for either complete mole or partial mole patients.

Objective We investigated issues affecting Papanicolaou smear screening access, health services utilization, acculturation, social networking, and media venues most conducive to acquiring health information among Hispanics. Study Design Self-identified Hispanics were surveyed. Participants were stratified based on age, time living in the United States, and Papanicolaou screening frequency. Results Of 318 participants, Hispanics aged 30 years or older and living in the United States less than 5 years prefer speaking Spanish. Women with 5 or more lifetime Papanicolaou smears were 1.610 times more likely to have lived in the United States 5 or more years, 1.706 times more likely to speak a second language, and 1.712 times less likely to need a translator during their health care encounter. Conclusion Age and years living in the United States may be independent risk factors for participation in Papanicolaou screening programs. Social difficulties inherent to acculturation inform health behavior and translate to health disparity among Hispanics. Our results may help design federally funded and community-level programs.