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Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the leading cause of child blindness. Preterm newborns of very low gestational age (GA) and very low birth weight are at the greatest risk. Our objective was to evaluate the role of genetic variants associated with ROP risk and its comorbidities in an Argentinian sample of premature infants., Methods: A sample of 437 preterm infants <33 weeks GA, born at a maternity hospital in Tucumán, Argentina, 2005-2010, was analyzed. Environmental factors, perinatal outcomes, and fourteen single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with ROP were evaluated, comparing ROP with non-ROP newborns. A lasso logistic regression was performed to select variables; then, a conditional logistic regression was used to identify ROP maternal and perinatal risk factors adjusting by maternal and gestational ages, respectively., Results: ROP maternal risk factors were alcohol intake, periodontal infections, and severe stress. Respiratory distress, sepsis, and intracranial hemorrhage were the ROP perinatal risk factors. Markers rs186085 of EPAS1 and rs427832 of AGTR1 were significantly associated with ROP newborns., Conclusion: We identified three maternal and three perinatal risk factors associated with ROP. Genes EPAS1 and AGTR1, involved in angiogenesis and vascularization, were identified to be of risk for ROP., Impact: Genetic and environmental risk factors associated with ROP and its comorbidities are evaluated in a Latin American population. Genes EPAS1 and AGTR1, involved in angiogenesis and vascularization, were identified to be of risk for ROP. Three maternal and three perinatal risk factors associated with ROP were also identified. A matrix of significant relationships among genetic markers and comorbidities is presented. Reported data may help develop more effective preventive measures for ROP in the Latin American region., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.)

Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is the main condition related to perinatal morbimortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the indirect effects of neighbourhood socioeconomic status (NSES) on the risk of spontaneous PTB., Methods: We carried out a retrospective case-control study including sociodemographic and obstetric data of multigravid women who gave birth at a maternity hospital in Tucumán, Argentina, between 2005 and 2010: 949 women without previous PTB nor pregnancy loss who delivered at term and 552 who had spontaneous PTB. NSES was estimated from the Unsatisfied Basic Needs index of census data. Variables selected through penalised regressions were used to create a data-driven Bayesian network; then, pathways were identified and mediation analyses performed., Results: Maternal age less than 20 years mediated part of the protective effect of high NSES on spontaneous PTB [natural indirect effect (NIE) -0.0125, 95% confidence interval (CI) (-0.0208, -0.0041)] and on few prenatal visits (< 5) [NIE - 0.0095, 95% CI (-0.0166, -0.0025)]. These pathways showed greater sensitivity to unobserved confounders that affect the variables mediator-outcome in the same direction, and exposure-mediator in the opposite direction. They did not show sensitivity to observed potential confounders, nor to the parameterization used to define NSES. Meanwhile, urinary tract infections showed a trend in mediating the effect of low NSES on spontaneous PTB [NIE 0.0044, 95% CI (-0.0006, 0.0093), P 0.0834]., Conclusions: High NSES has protective indirect effects on spontaneous PTB risk, mainly associated with a lower frequency of teenage pregnancy., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) is considered a general indicator of health because it is related to complications in the life of a newborn infant and is one of the leading causes of infant mortality. It is a multifactorial indicator, and its determinants include socioeconomic factors., Objective: To assess the impact of economic inequality on the prevalence of LBW by quantifying its differential effect by maternal age, level of maternal education, and level of care., Population and Methods: Epidemiological, cross-sectional study that analyzed all births occurred in Argentina between 2001 and 2013 based on data provided by the National Registry of births, corresponding to the Health Statistics and Information Department. The temporal variation in the prevalence of LBW newborn infants (&#60; 2500 grams) and its relation to demographic and socioeconomic indicators were studied. Its association was assessed using logistic regression models., Results: A total of 9 001 960births were included. The prevalence of LBW newborn infants during the 2001 economic crisis increased -6% in 2002 and 7% in 2003- The impact was heterogeneous and higher on public hospitals (|-1;PR|-3; = 1.03) and adolescent mothers (PR=1.07), but no impact was observed on a low level of maternal education (PR= 0.99)., Conclusions: The impact of socioeconomic inequality on the prevalence of LBW was significant and heterogeneous, especially on public hospitals and mothers at the extremes of maternal age., (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

Objective: This study was designed to characterize and compare the maternal and newborn epidemiological characteristics through analysis of environmental factors, sociodemographic characteristics and clinical characteristics between the different clinical subtypes of preterm birth (PTB): Idiopathic (PTB-I), premature rupture of the membranes (PTB-PPROM) and medically indicated (PTB-M). The two subtypes PTB-I and PTB-PPROM grouped are called spontaneous preterm births (PTB-S)., Methods: A retrospective, observational study was conducted in 1.291 preterm nonmalformed singleton live-born children to nulliparous and multiparous mother's in Tucumán-Argentina between 2005 and 2010. Over 50 maternal variables and 10 newborn variables were compared between the different clinical subtypes. The comparisons were done to identify heterogeneity between subtypes of preterm birth: (PTB-S) versus (PTB-M), and within spontaneous subtype: (PTB-I) versus (PTB-PPROM). In the same way, two conditional logistic multivariate regressions were used to compare the odds ratio (OR) between PTB-S and PTB-M, as well as PTB-I and PTB-PPROM. We matched for maternal age when comparing maternal variables and gestational age when comparing infant variables., Results: The PTB-I subtype was characterized by younger mothers of lower socio-economic status, PTB-PPROM was characterized by environmental factors resulting from inflammatory processes, and PTB-M was characterized by increased maternal or fetal risk pregnancies., Conclusions: The main risk factor for PTB-I and PTB-M was having had a prior preterm delivery; however, previous spontaneous abortion was not a risk factor, suggesting a reproductive selection mechanism.

Background: Although young maternal age has been identified as a risk factor for gastroschisis, its role remains undisclosed. To our knowledge, the differences between young mothers of infants with gastroschisis and young mothers of infants with other pregnancy outcomes have not been established. The aim of this work was to compare characteristics of young mothers whose newborn had gastroschisis with same aged mothers of malformed and nonmalformed control infants, diagnosed within the ECLAMC maternity hospital network., Methods: Data base records of live and stillborn infants of one of three groups (with isolated gastroschisis, with 1 of 5 other isolated birth defects, and nonmalformed), and whose mothers were younger than 20 years, were selected. Secular trends were obtained for all birth defects; frequencies and odds ratios (OR) of demographic and reproductive variables were compared among the 3 groups. Significantly associated variables were adjusted with a multivariate regression., Results: The association was higher with gastroschisis 1) than with other birth defects for African ancestry, smoking, adequate prenatal control and diagnosis 2) than with nonmalformed controls for maternal illnesses and alcohol 3) and than both for previous pregnancy loss and medication, mainly sex hormones. After adjustment, only previous pregnancy loss maintained its significance when compared with malformed (OR = 2.34; 1.37-3.97; P = 0.002), as well as with nonmalformed (OR = 3.43; 2.07-5.66; P < 0.001) controls., Conclusion: A previous pregnancy loss was identified as the main risk factor for gastroschisis, while an increased use of sex hormones, perhaps related to the previous loss, could trigger a disruptive mechanism, due to their thrombophilic effect., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)