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Background: The majority of evidence on associations between pregnancy complications and future maternal disease focuses on hypertensive (Ht) complications. We hypothesize that impaired cardiometabolic health after pregnancies complicated by severe fetal growth restriction (FGR) is independent of the co-occurrence of hypertension. Materials and Methods: In a prospective cohort of women with a pregnancy complicated by early FGR (delivery <34 weeks gestation), with or without concomitant hypertension, cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed after delivery. A population-based reference cohort was used for comparison, and analyses were adjusted for age, current body mass index (BMI), smoking habits, and hormonal contraceptive use. Results: Median time from delivery to assessment was 4 months in both the Ht (N = 115) and normotensive (Nt) (N = 42) FGR groups. Compared with the reference group (N = 380), in both FGR groups lipid profile and glucose homeostasis at assessment were unfavorable. Women with Ht-FGR had the least favorable cardiometabolic profile, with higher prevalence ratios (PRs) for diastolic blood pressure >85 mmHg (PR 4.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1–6.7), fasting glucose levels >5.6 mmol/L (PR 2.9, 95% CI 1.4–5.6), and total cholesterol levels >6.21 mmol/L (PR 4.5, 95% CI 1.9–8.8), compared with the reference group. Women with Nt-FGR more often had a BMI >30 kg/m2 (PR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2–4.7) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels <1.29 mmol/L (PR 2.4, 95% CI 1.4–3.5), compared with the reference group. Conclusions: Women with a history of FGR showed unfavorable short-term cardiometabolic profiles in comparison with a reference group, independent of the co-occurrence of hypertension. Therefore, women with a history of FGR may benefit from cardiovascular risk factor assessment and subsequent risk reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women who develop preeclampsia have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. However, current guidelines on cardiovascular risk assessment and prevention are unclear on how and when to screen these women postpartum, and about the role of a positive history of preeclampsia in later-life CVD risk management. The aim of this review is to discuss the present knowledge on commonly used cardiovascular screening modalities available to women with a history of preeclampsia, and to discuss recent developments in early detection of CVD using cardiovascular imaging. Furthermore, we explore how female-specific risk factors may have additional value in cardiovascular screening, in particular in relatively young women, although their implementation in clinical practice is challenged by inconsistent results and lack of long-term outcome data. Non-invasive imaging techniques, e.g., coronary artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), can be helpful to detect subclinical atherosclerotic disease, and coronary artery calcium scoring (CACS) has shown to be effective in early detection of cardiovascular damage. However, while more short-term and long-term follow-up studies are becoming available, few studies have investigated women with a history of preeclampsia in the fourth and fifth decade of life, when early signs of premature CVD are most likely to become apparent. Further studies are needed to inform new and improved clinical practice guidelines, and provide long-term strategies to effectively prevent CVD, specifically targeted at women with a history of preeclampsia. Additionally, evaluation of feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and implementation of CVD screening and prevention initiatives targeted at former preeclampsia patients are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Netherlands, both the LifeCycle Elipse (LC) and the Astraia software package are used to calculate the risk of having a child with Down syndrome. Therefore, pregnant women can be presented with dissimilar risks. In this study the conformity between these risks before and after harmonization of the screening program and its influence on the performance indicators of the first trimester screening were evaluated. The agreement between combined risks (based on the biochemical parameters PAPP-A and fβ-hCG and a nuchal translucency measurement) was expressed as intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.99. Conformity between combined risks was better after harmonization (Cohen's κ=0.75) than before harmonization (Cohen's κ=0.63). For both risk calculation software packages the area under the ROC-curve was 0.84. The database contained 42 Down syndrome cases; based on the odds of being affected given a positive result (OAPR), LC performed slightly better than Astraia before harmonization (17.9 vs. 21.5, respectively). It has been acknowledged that using different software packages could lead to dissimilar risk calculations. In this study the screening performance indicators of two software packages were quite similar. The agreement of the screening performance after harmonization remains to be seen, but is expected to be even higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the evidence regarding the benefit of using ST waveform analysis of the fetal electrocardiogram is conflicting, ST waveform analysis is considered as adjunct to identify fetuses at risk for asphyxia in our center. Most randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses have not shown a significant decrease in umbilical metabolic acidosis, while some observational studies have shown a gradual decrease of this outcome over a longer period of time. Observational studies can give more insight into the effect of implementation of the ST technology in daily clinical practice.Objective: To evaluate the change in frequency of perinatal intervention and adverse neonatal outcome after the implementation of ST waveform analysis of the fetal electrocardiogram from 2000 to 2013.Study Design: This retrospective longitudinal study was conducted in a tertiary referral center. A total of 19,664 medium- and high-risk singleton pregnancies with fetuses in cephalic presentation, a gestational age of ≥36 weeks, and the intention to deliver vaginally were included. ST waveform analysis of the fetal electrocardiogram was implemented in the year 2000 and by 2010 all deliveries were monitored using this technology. Data were collected on the following perinatal outcomes: fetal blood sampling, mode of delivery, umbilical cord blood gases, Apgar scores, neonatal encephalopathy, and perinatal death. Longitudinal trend analysis was used to detect changes over time in all deliveries monitored by cardiotocography either alone or in adjunct to ST waveform analysis of the fetal electrocardiogram. Logistic regression was used to correct for possible confounders.Results: The umbilical artery metabolic acidosis rate declined from 2.5% (average rate of 2000 + 2001 + 2002) to 0.4% (average of 2011 + 2012 + 2013) (P < .001), which represents an 84% decrease. This decrease largely occurred between 2006 and 2008, during the Dutch randomized trial on fetal electrocardiogram ST waveform analysis. At this time, approximately 20% of deliveries were monitored using this method. Furthermore, there were significant reductions in fetal blood sampling rate (P < .001). Overall cesarean and vaginal instrumental deliveries decreased significantly (P < .001), but not for fetal distress. There were no changes in the Apgar scores. The incidence of neonatal encephalopathy was significantly lower in the second part of the study (odds ratio 0.39, 95% confidence interval 0.17-0.89).Conclusion: There was an 84% decrease in the incidence of umbilical artery metabolic acidosis in all deliveries between 2000 and 2013. The neonatal encephalopathy rate, fetal blood sampling rate, and the total number of cesarean and vaginal instrumental deliveries also decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]