Objective: We aimed to compare sFlt-1 and placental growth factor (PlGF) levels and the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio between women with preeclampsia and superimposed preeclampsia to, respectively, normotensive and chronic hypertensive ones. Study design: We performed a prospective two-armed cohort in a tertiary teaching hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, including 37 normotensive and 60 chronic hypertensive pregnant women. We assessed the serum levels of sFlt-1 and PlGF at 20, 26, 32, and 36 gestational weeks by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Main outcome measures: Having preeclampsia and superimposed preeclampsia. Results: Among normotensive and chronic hypertensive pregnancies, 4 (10.8%) and 14 (23.3%) women developed preeclampsia and superimposed preeclampsia, respectively. Compared with those who remained normotensive, the preeclampsia women presented higher sFlt-1 levels at 32 gestational weeks (4323.45 pg/mL vs. 2242.04 pg/mL, p = 0.019), lower PlGF levels at 20 (183.54 pg/mL vs. 337.38 pg/mL, p = 0.034), 32 (169.69 pg/mL vs. 792.53 pg/mL, p = 0.001), and 36 gestational weeks (252.99 pg/mL vs. 561.81 pg/mL, p = 0.029), and higher sFlt-1/PlGF ratios at 26 (9.02 vs. 1.84, p = 0.004), 32 (23.61 vs. 2.55, p = 0.001), and 36 gestational weeks (49.02 vs. 7.34, p = 0.029). On the other hand, compared with those who remained chronic hypertensive, the superimposed preeclampsia women only presented a higher sFlt-1/PlGF ratio at 32 gestational weeks (9.98 vs. 2.51, p = 0.039). Conclusion: Although angiogenic imbalance is clearly related to preeclampsia, it seems to play a more modest role in superimposed preeclampsia, in which other mechanisms should also be investigated.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had deleterious effects among the obstetric population. Pregnant and postpartum women constitute a high-risk group for severe COVID-19. Vaccination reduces the risk of infection, but it is not known whether women who become infected despite vaccination have a milder course of disease than those who had not been vaccinated. This retrospective cohort study evaluated whether vaccination reduces the severity of COVID-19 infection, as measured by severe maternal morbidity and mortality among hospitalized pregnant and postpartum individuals. A total of 2284 pregnant and postpartum women hospitalized with severe COVID-19 were included. Those who did and who did not receive COVID-19 vaccination were compared. The rates of intensive care unit admission, intubation, and mortality were significantly lower among subjects in the vaccinated group (p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). The numbers of patients who needed to be vaccinated to avoid one case of intensive care unit admission, intubation, or death due to COVID-19 were 7, 7, and 9, respectively. The COVID-19 vaccine offers protective effects against intensive care unit admission, intubation, and death in hospitalized pregnant and postpartum women with severe SARS-CoV-2-induced SARS.

In this paper, we introduce a defective regression model for survival data modeling with a proportion of early failures or zero-adjusted. Our approach enables us to accommodate three types of units, that is, patients with ‘zero’ survival times (early failures) and those who are susceptible or not susceptible to the event of interest. Defective distributions are obtained from standard distributions by changing the domain of the parameters of the latter in such a way that their survival functions are limited to $p\in (0,1)$. We consider the Gompertz and inverse Gaussian defective distributions, which allow modeling of data containing a cure fraction. Parameter estimation is performed by maximum likelihood estimation, and Monte Carlo simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed models. We illustrate the practical relevance of the proposed models on two real data sets. The first is from a study of occlusion of endoscopic stenting in patients with pancreatic cancer performed at A.C.Camargo Cancer Center, and the other is from a study on insulin use in pregnant women diagnosed with gestational diabetes performed at São Paulo University Medical School. Both studies were performed in São Paulo, Brazil.

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate risk factors and propose a model for the prediction of insulin requirement during the treatment of early-diagnosed gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Research design and methods: Retrospective cohort analysis of all pregnant women who were diagnosed with GDM by abnormal fasting blood glucose at the first prenatal visit. According to the requirement for insulin therapy to achieve good glycemic control (insulin or diet group), women were compared regarding clinical and laboratory variables. The performance of these variables in predicting insulin need for GDM treatment was identified by a logistic regression model, and a nomogram was created based on the model to facilitate clinical interpretation. Results: In total, 408 women were included for analysis. Among them, 135 (33%) needed insulin therapy. In the logistic regression model, maternal age, prepregnancy body mass index, fasting blood glucose (FBG) value, prior GDM, and family history of diabetes were significant independent variables for the prediction of insulin need. Conclusions: The need for insulin therapy in women with early diagnosis of GDM can be predicted by a logistic regression model, which can be converted to a clinically usable nomogram that could help to properly address follow-up strategies for GDM treatment in regions where health resources are limited.

Prone positioning (PP) improves oxygenation and survival in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Data regarding feasibility and effectiveness of PP in pregnancy are lacking. This subgroup analysis of a cohort study that included mechanically ventilated pregnant women presenting with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-induced ARDS who underwent PP aims to assess the efficacy and safety of PP. Ventilatory and gasometric parameters were evaluated at baseline (T₀) and in prone (T₁) and supine (T₂) positions. Obstetric outcomes were also assessed. Sixteen cases at an average of 27.0 (22.0–31.1) gestational weeks of pregnancy were included. Obesity and hypertension were frequent comorbidities. PP was associated with a >20% increase in PaO₂ levels and in PaO₂/FiO₂ ratios in 50% and 100% of cases, respectively. The PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio increased 76.7% (20.5–292.4%) at T₁ and 76.9% (0–182.7%) at T₂. PP produced sustained improvements in mean PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio (p < 0.001) and PaCO₂ level (p = 0.028). There were no cases of emergency delivery or suspected fetal distress in pregnancies ≥25 weeks during the 24 h period following PP. PP is safe and feasible during pregnancy, improving PaO₂/FiO₂ ratios and helping to delay preterm delivery in severe ARDS.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common complications in pregnancy. It may be diagnosed using a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) early in pregnancy (eGDM) or a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (late GDM). This retrospective cohort of women with GDM presents data from 1891 patients (1004 in the eGDM and 887 in the late GDM group). Student’s t-test, chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test and the Bonferroni test for post hoc analysis were used to compare the groups. Women with eGDM had higher pre-pregnancy BMI, more frequent family history of DM, more frequent history of previous GDM, and were more likely to have chronic hypertension. They were more likely to deliver by cesarean section and to present an abnormal puerperal OGTT. Even though they received earlier treatment and required insulin more frequently, there was no difference in neonatal outcomes. Diagnosing and treating GDM is necessary to reduce complications and adverse outcomes, but it is still a challenge. We believe that women with eGDM should be treated and closely monitored, even though this may increase healthcare-related costs.