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Background Lockdowns, pregnant women’s fear from hospitalization in addition to uncertainties about appropriate birthing practices at the beginning of the pandemic may have affected the health outcomes of mother-infant couples. We aimed to explore whether pregnancy outcomes including the rates of cesarean delivery (CS), preterm, and low birth weight (LBW) births have changed during the pandemic period compared with the pre-pandemic period. Methods We applied a population-based retrospective cohort, before-after approach in 2020 vs. similar calendar months in 2019 for five periods [Jan-Feb (pre-pandemic); March–May (1st wave and lockdown); June–August; September–October; November–December (2nd wave and lockdown)]. The data was modelled through multiple logistic regressions using key outcomes; CS, preterm, and LBW births as the dependent variables, and adjustments were made for independent variables in SPSS software. We evaluated the modification of years by periods by adding interaction term (yearXperiod) to the model. Results The rate of CS in hospital births increased from 57.7% in 2019 to 60.2% in 2020. CS rates were significantly increased during the 3rd and 4th periods. The overall preterm rate was 11%. When singleton pregnancies were considered, adjusted multivariable analyses showed a decrease in preterm proportions during all time periods with respect to the pre-pandemic period. The percentage of LBW was 7.7% during the pandemic period and was found to be significantly reduced compared to the pre-pandemic period. There was a significant reduction in LBW rates in all periods except the second lockdown period. Conclusions Our findings suggested significant reductions in preterm and LBW births possibly due to the indirect effects of the pandemic. Moreover, strategies need to be considered to address the increased CS rates and shifting of maternity service utilization to private facilities.

Objective: Turkish Directorate of Public Health introduced the first pilot screening program for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in four Turkish cities in 2017, and in 2018 extended the program, with a slight change in screening strategy, to fourteen cities. To evaluate the performance of the extended study and update previously reported outcomes. Methods: Retrospective, descriptive study. Neonates of >= 32 gestational weeks and >= 1500 gr birth weight from fourteen cities, born between May-December 2018, were included. Screening protocol included one sample, two-tier testing as applied in the previous pilot study. In the first step, 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) was measured by fluoroimmunoassay in dried blood spots (DBS) obtained at 3-5 days of life. Cases with positive initial screening underwent second tier testing by steroid profiling in DBS using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to measure 17-OHP, 21-deoxycortisol (21-S), cortisol (F), 11-deoxycortisol and androstenedione. The babies with a steroid ratio (21-S+ 17-OHP)/F of >= 0.7 (increased from >= 0.5 in the earlier pilot study) were referred to pediatric endocrinology clinics for diagnostic assessment. Results: In the evaluated period, 241,083 newborns were screened. 12,321 (5.11 %) required second-tier testing and 880 (0.36 %) were referred for clinical assessment, twenty of whom were diagnosed with CAH (10 females, 10 males). Sixteen were diagnosed as classical 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) CAH (12 with salt-wasting and four with simple virilising CAH), and four cases were identified with 11 beta-OHD CAH. No case of salt-wasting CAH was missed by neonatal screening (sensitivity was 100 %). The incidence of classical 21-OHD and 11 beta-OHD in the screened population was 1:15,067 and 1:60,270, respectively. Conclusion: Turkish neonatal CAH screening effectively led to earlier diagnosis of 21-OHD and 11 beta-OHD, using steroid profiling as a second-tier test. This will result in improved care of these patients in the future.

AYDIN, MURAT/0000-0001-7374-229X; Gurbuz, Fatih/0000-0003-2160-9838; Kara, Cengiz/0000-0002-8989-560X; GURAN, TULAY/0000-0003-2658-6866; Tezel, Basak/0000-0001-9280-6746 WOS: 000459188200003 PubMed: 30111524 Objective: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is the most common form of primary adrenal insufficiency in children. Neonatal screening for CAH is effective in detecting the salt-wasting (SW) form and in reducing mortality. in this study, our aim was to estimate the incidence of CAH in Turkey and to assess the characteristics and efficacy of the adopted newborn CAH screening strategy. Methods: A pilot newborn CAH screening study was carried out under the authority of the Turkish Directorate of Public Health. Newborn babies of >= 32 gestational weeks and >= 1500 gr birth weight from four cities, born between March 27-September 15, 2017 were included in the study. Screening protocol included one sample two-tier testing. In the first step, 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) was measured by fluoroimmunoassay in dried blood spots (DBS) obtained at 3-5 days of life. The cases with positive initial screening were tested by steroid profiling in DBS using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method to measure 17-OHP, 21-deoxycortisol (21-S), cortisol (F), 11-deoxycortisol and androstenedione as a second-tier test. The babies with a steroid ratio (21-S + 17-OHP)/F of >= 0.5 were referred to pediatric endocrinology clinics for diagnostic assessment. Results: 38,935 infants were tested, 2265 (5.82 %) required second-tier testing and 212 (0.54 %) were referred for clinical assessment, six of whom were diagnosed with CAH (four males, two females). Four cases were identified as SW 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) (two males, two females). One male baby had simple virilizing 21-0HD and one male baby had II-OHD CAH. The incidence of classical 21-0HD in the screened population was 1:7,787. Conclusion: The incidence of CAH due to classical 21-OHD is higher in Turkey compared to previous reports. We, therefore, suggest that CAH be added to the newborn screening panel in Turkey. The use of steroid profiling as a second-tier test was found to improve the efficacy of the screening and reduce the number of false-positives.