Pregnancy and Birth

Cancer passed in utero, trading art for health care, urinary incontinence in young women and more in the ob/gyn week in review.

Despite insufficient evidence to support the practice, many physicians treat obstetric cholestasis with ursodeoxycholic acid to reduce pruritis and hepatic impairment. Recently, the largest trial to date comparing UDCA with placebo also studied the timing of delivery in this group of women.

Cesarean sections are used in one-third of births, often before 39 weeks. Some major insurers are launching initiatives to reduce early elective Cesareans. Is that a good idea?

This is a common uterine condition. What's your diagnosis?

A new study shows that subfertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection to conceive can eliminate the daily shots of follicle-stimulating hormone and use long-acting FSH instead.

Many women with antiphospholipid antibodies are being unnecessarily treated with anticoagulants, such as heparin, which can be costly and can cause bleeding and bone loss.

In a systematic review of UAE versus other surgical interventions for symptomatic uterine fibroids, researchers concluded that UAE offers substantial improvements in symptoms of uterine fibroids but may not help women who want to retain their reproductive potential.

From nutritional supplements to pregnancy support products to spa services, more ObGyn practices--and physicians' offices in general--are turning to ancillary products as additional sources of revenue.

This is a middle aged woman with pelvic discomfort and normal menses. Sagittal images of the uterus are shown. What is your diagnosis?

Children exposed to HIV in the womb are more susceptible to hearing loss by age 16 than unexposed children, according to results of a new study.

Pregnant women who are unable or unwilling to quit smoking can help improve lung function in their newborns by taking vitamin C daily.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers found increased risk for myocardial infarction and thrombotic stroke in women using combined estrogen-progestin contraceptives. However, news headlines tend to overstate the risk, and patients may have new concerns about the safety of their hormonal contraceptive.

Combination treatment with nevirapine and zidovudine more effectively reduces intrapartum transmission rates of HIV than treatment with zidovudine alone, according to results of a new study by a National Institutes of Health research network.

Incidence of placenta accreta has increased five-fold since the 1980s. Recently, an ACOG committee opinion highlighted advances in the management of PA.

This patient had a history of pelvic pain and five weeks amenorrhea with no h/o spotting. What is your diagnosis?

A study found substantially improved survival of offspring for women who received prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation and early invitation to food supplementation.

Although risks increase after an EP, a history of EP alone does not warrant closer-than-usual monitoring during a future pregnancy.

Scientists are testing a procedure that allows women with a genetic disorder conceive without passing the disease on to their children, and it involves using DNA from a "third parent." Is it ethical?

The results of a new study suggest that women who are pregnant with twins should elect to give birth at 37 weeks to avoid complications.

What is your diagnosis in this 40 year-old female patient with severe suprapubic pain exacerbated during menses? Ovaries were normal.

Irrigation of the abdominal cavity is often described as a fundamental step during a C-section, but there is little evidence that this common practice actually improves outcomes.

Estrogen-deficient women who have had a hysterectomy with or without ovarian preservation are more likely to have arterial stiffness than estrogen-deficient women who have not had a hysterectomy, according to results of a new study conducted at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver.

What is your diagnosis based on these images of the left adnexa? The patient is a young woman with pain in the same region.

The number of cases of cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea is increasing, according to a recent report issued by the World Health Organization. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes the infection, has already developed resistance to other common antibiotics, and cephalosporins have become the last line of defense against the infection.

This is the case of a pregnancy at 12 weeks gestational age. The patient underwent routine prenatal transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound imaging.

Omission of the bladder flap in cesarean deliveries does not increase intraoperative or postoperative complications, according to results of a new randomized controlled trial.

Test your diagnostic skills. What is your diagnosis of these endocavity scans?

In anovulatory women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one-time use of progestin to induce withdrawal bleeding before ovulation induction may decrease the odds of conception and live birth, according to a new study conducted by researchers for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIHCD) Cooperative Reproductive Medicine Network (RMN).

Whether a woman is overweight or obese before and during pregnancy, and not glucose levels, is the most reliable predictor of a woman’s risk of giving birth to a large-for-gestational-age infant, according to a new study conducted in Canada.

These ultrasound images show a right ovarian lesion.