Bob Kronemyer

Women with congenital long-QT syndrome (LQTS) have an increased risk of cardiac events, including sudden cardiac death, after the onset of adolescence, perhaps due to the effects of estrogen and progesterone on cardiac potassium channels.

“Topical drug delivery also provides higher concentrations of the drug to the target site and has fewer side effects,” wrote the authors.

The findings of a secondary analysis from a randomized trial of intrauterine devices (IUDs) for emergency contraception should bolster confidence about the low pregnancy risk when providers insert an IUD following a recent episode of unprotected intercourse.

A randomized controlled study in Pain Research & Management validates the potential role of antioxidants in managing endometriosis.

Adolescent oral contraceptive use is associated with a small yet meaningful increased risk of experiencing an episode of major depressive disorder (MDD) in early adulthood, especially among women with no history of MDD in adolescence.

An evaluation of multiple recommended eating patterns has found that intakes of legumes, dietary fiber, and vegetable protein is linked to lower risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), whereas intakes of unprocessed red meat, processed meat, and regular soft drinks are associated with higher risk.

The management of diabetes is multifaceted, often requiring the collaboration of a multidisciplinary team of providers. While sexual side effects of diabetes are not commonly discussed during patient visits, there is a correlation between the presence of diabetes and frequent sexual dysfunction in women.

A cross-sectional study in JAMA Internal Medicine has found that entry to Medicare increases coverage rates, access to care, and self-reported health, and it also closes gaps in access and health between racial and ethnic groups.

Among women with opioid use disorder (OUD) at high risk for unintended pregnancy, onsite contraceptive services coupled with financial incentives to attend follow-up visits to assess contraceptive satisfaction was a significantly more efficacious and cost-beneficial intervention than without incentives or with usual care, according to a prospective randomized clinical trial in JAMA Psychiatry.

An analysis of individual enrollment and premium data from California’s marketplace and the American Rescue Plan premium tax credit subsidy schedule has concluded that a smart default policy avoids defaulting lower-income marketplace enrollees to objectively inferior health care insurance plans and leads to large reductions in lower-income enrollees’ deductibles, copayments, and maximum out-of-pocket amounts.

All categories of women’s preventive health services that required an in-person visit plummeted during the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in comparison to 2019, but then rebounded to near 2019 levels by July 2020.

Clinicians should carefully consider using noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for the screening of chromosomal abnormalities in twin pregnancies because the combined positive predictive value (PPV) is limited and the screening efficiency is not stable, according to a prospective study.

Despite the inadvisability of performing early amniocentesis (EA) before 15 gestational weeks due to a high rate of miscarriage, a retrospective cohort study has found no significant difference in the procedure-related risk of miscarriage between EA, at around 14 weeks gestation, and mid-trimester amniocentesis (MA).

Nearly 1 in 5 Black women and 1 in 6 Latina women who experience gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within only 8 years postpartum, according to a study poster at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) virtual conference.

For cervical cancer screening, human papillomavirus (HPV)–based screening modalities detect significantly more abnormal cervical cells than traditional liquid-based cytology (LBC) approaches, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.

A significant uptick in telemedicine for managing diabetes in pregnancy occurred during the COVID-19 crisis, which should continue as the pandemic subsides, according to a session on telemedicine at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) virtual conference.

In addition to welcoming a newborn, parents may be unexpectedly billed for some hospitalization services, according to a research letter in JAMA Health Forum.

“Opioids affect placental development and function in animal models, but human data on their association with ischemic placental disease are limited,” wrote the authors.

Despite the umbilical artery (UA) Doppler pulsatility index being used to detect elevated fetoplacental vascular resistance, the metric is confounded by variation in fetal cardiac function and is only moderately predictive of placental pathology.

“Over the past several years, a growing number of companies have been providing contraception through online platforms, but there has been very little research on these businesses,” said principal investigator Brittni Frederiksen, MPH, PhD, a senior policy analyst at KFF in San Francisco.

No evidence exists that bacterial vaginosis (BV)-associated bacteria increases the risk of developing uterine fibroids (UFs) or the number of UFs, according to a nested case-control study in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

A retrospective analysis has found that comprehensive examination of shallow-sequenced, whole-genome cell-free DNA (cfDNA) allows for the incidental detection of maternal tumors, with relatively high precision.

The association between confined placental mosaicism (CPM) and prenatal growth and adverse pregnancy outcomes is significant, according to a literature review in the journal Human Reproduction Update.

Nemvaleukin alfa (Alkermes) was mostly well tolerated and indicated antitumor activity as both monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab among patients with advanced solid tumors, according to study results presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held virtually from June 4-8.

Besides sex hormone levels, predictors for the age at natural menopause (ANM) include irregularity of menstrual cycle, menopausal symptoms, life habits and socioeconomic factors, according to a retrospective study of 105 middle-aged women who kept bleeding diaries.

Due to the rarity of the disease and its variability in clinical presentation, the condition is hardly recognized by some health care professionals, leading to a delayed diagnosis.

“Promoting healthy weight gain during pregnancy is important for both pregnant people and their babies,” said Task Force member Aaron Caughey, MD, MPP, MPH, PhD, a professor and chair of ob/gyn at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

The authors of the prospective study in the journal Health Technology Assessment believe the simple intervention has enormous potential to prevent more unintended pregnancies after emergency contraception.

Preoperative vitamin D deficiency adversely impacted early functional outcomes after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in postmenopausal women, according to a study from China.

Although fortification of expressed breast milk (EBM) via commercially available human milk fortifiers (HMF) has been shown to increase short-term weight and length among preterm very low-birth-weight (VLMW) neonates, widespread adoption of HMF is hampered by high cost and the increased risk of severe adverse events.