Background Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, but the association with the concentration of specific biochemical markers is unclear. We aimed to quantify the adverse perinatal effects of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy in women with increased serum bile acid concentrations and determine whether elevated bile acid concentrations were associated with the risk of stillbirth and preterm birth. Methods We did a systematic review by searching PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases for studies published from database inception to June 1, 2018, reporting perinatal outcomes for women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy when serum bile acid concentrations were available. Inclusion criteria were studies defining intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy based upon pruritus and elevated serum bile acid concentrations, with or without raised liver aminotransferase concentrations. Eligible studies were case-control, cohort, and populationbased studies, and randomised controlled trials, with at least 30 participants, and that reported bile acid concentrations and perinatal outcomes. Studies at potential higher risk of reporter bias were excluded, including case reports, studies not comprising cohorts, or successive cases seen in a unit; we also excluded studies with high risk of bias from groups selected (eg, a subgroup of babies with poor outcomes were explicitly excluded), conference abstracts, and Letters to the Editor without clear peer review. We also included unpublished data from two UK hospitals. We did a random effects meta-analysis to determine risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. Aggregate data for maternal and perinatal outcomes were extracted from case-control studies, and individual patient data (IPD) were requested from study authors for all types of study (as no control group was required for the IPD analysis) to assess associations between biochemical markers and adverse outcomes using logistic and stepwise logistic regression. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42017069134. Findings We assessed 109 full-text articles, of which 23 studies were eligible for the aggregate data meta-analysis (5557 intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy cases and 165 136 controls), and 27 provided IPD (5269 intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy cases). Stillbirth occurred in 45 (0•91%) of 4936 intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy cases and 519 (0•32%) of 163 947 control pregnancies (odds ratio [OR] 1•46 [95% CI 0•73-2•89]; I²=59•8%). In singleton pregnancies, stillbirth was associated with maximum total bile acid concentration (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [ROC AUC]) 0•83 [95% CI 0•74-0•92]), but not alanine aminotransferase (ROC AUC 0•46 [0•35-0•57]). For singleton pregnancies, the prevalence of stillbirth was three (0•13%; 95% CI 0•02-0•38) of 2310 intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy cases in women with serum total bile acids of less than 40 µmol/L versus four (0•28%; 0•08-0•72) of 1412 cases with total bile acids of 40-99 µ...

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Integration of cervicovaginal microbiota, metabolome and host response data provide useful insight into preterm birth risk stratification in an ethnically diverse cohort.

Placental dysfunction underlies the cause of pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia. The use of placental magnetic resonance imaging to provide an insight into the pathophysiology of preeclampsia and thus assess its potential use to inform prognosis and clinical management was explored. In this prospective observational cohort study, 14 women with preterm preeclampsia and 48 gestation-matched controls using 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging at median of 31.6 weeks (interquartile range [IQR], 28.6–34.6) and 32.2 weeks (IQR, 28.6–33.8), respectively, were imaged. The acquired data included T2-weighted images and T2* maps of the placenta, the latter an indicative measure of placental oxygenation. Placentae in women with preeclampsia demonstrated advanced lobulation, varied lobule sizes, high granularity, and substantial areas of low-signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging, with reduced entire placental mean T2* values for gestational age (2 sample t test, t=7.49) correlating with a reduction in maternal PlGF (placental growth factor) concentrations (Spearman rank correlation coefficient 0.76) and increased lacunarity values (t=3.26). Median mean T2* reduced from 67 ms (IQR, 54–73) at 26.0 to 29.8 weeks’ gestation to 38 ms (IQR, 28–40) at 34.0 to 37.9 weeks’ gestation in the control group. In women with preeclampsia, median T2* was 23 ms (IQR, 20–23) at 26.0 to 29.8 weeks’ gestation and remained low (22 ms [IQR, 20–26] at 34.0–37.8 weeks’ gestation). Histological features of maternal vascular malperfusion were only found in placentae from women with preeclampsia. Placental volume did not differ between the control group and women with preeclampsia. Placental magnetic resonance imaging allows both objective quantification of placental function in vivo and elucidation of the complex mechanisms underlying preeclampsia development.

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Background Ursodeoxycholic acid is commonly used to treat intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, yet its largest trial detected minimal benefit for a composite outcome (stillbirth, preterm birth, and neonatal unit admission). We aimed to examine whether ursodeoxycholic acid affects specific adverse perinatal outcomes.Methods In this systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Global Health, MIDIRS, and Cochrane without language restrictions for relevant articles published between database inception, and Jan 1, 2020, using search terms referencing intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, ursodeoxycholic acid, and perinatal outcomes. Eligible studies had 30 or more study participants and reported on at least one individual with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and bile acid concentrations of 40 µmol/L or more. We also included two unpublished cohort studies. Individual participant data were collected from the authors of selected studies. The primary outcome was the prevalence of stillbirth, for which we anticipated there would be insufficient data to achieve statistical power. Therefore, we included a composite of stillbirth and preterm birth as a main secondary outcome. A mixed-effects meta-analysis was done using multi-level modelling and adjusting for bile acid concentration, parity, and multifetal pregnancy. Individual participant data analyses were done for all studies and in different subgroups, which were produced by limiting analyses to randomised controlled trials only, singleton pregnancies only, or two-arm studies only. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42019131495. FindingsThe authors of the 85 studies fulfilling our inclusion criteria were contacted. Individual participant data from 6974 women in 34 studies were included in the meta-analysis, of whom 4726 (67•8%) took ursodeoxycholic acid. Stillbirth occurred in 35 (0•7%) of 5097 fetuses among women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy treated with ursodeoxycholic acid and in 12 (0•6%) of 2038 fetuses among women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy not treated with ursodeoxycholic acid (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1•04, 95% CI 0•35-3•07; p=0•95). Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment also had no effect on the prevalence of stillbirth when considering only randomised controlled trials (aOR 0•29, 95% CI 0•04-2•42; p=0•25). Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment had no effect on the prevalence of the composite outcome in all studies (aOR 1•28, 95% CI 0•86-1•91; p=0•22), but was associated with a reduced composite outcome when considering only randomised controlled trials (0•60, 0•39-0•91; p=0•016).Interpretation Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment had no significant effect on the prevalence of stillbirth in women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, but our analysis was probably limited by the low overall event rate. However, when considering only randomised controlled trials, ursodeoxycholic acid was associated with a reduction in stillbirth in combination with pr...

(Abstracted from Am J Obstet Gynecol 2020;222:261.e1–261.e9) Women who experience multiple late miscarriages or spontaneous preterm births may be candidates for vaginal cerclage. In women with a history of pregnancy loss with vaginal cerclage, observational studies have suggested that transabdominal cerclage (TAC) may be beneficial over high vaginal cerclage (HVC) and low vaginal cerclage (LVC).