Obstetrics

News • Respiratory research

Preterm birth increases risk of asthma or COPD

A new study from Finland and Norway shows that babies born preterm are more likely to have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, in adulthood.

Article • Webcams in neonatology offer clinical value

Baby on-screen 24/7

True or false: Webcams have only recently been introduced in neonatology and are a patient-side component of the Digital Health Portfolio. False! Already in 1989, Professor Dr Roland Wauer at Charité Berlin built his DIY system to transmit images from the neonatology ward.

News • Pregnancy in pandemic times

Does the Covid-19 vaccine increase miscarriage risk? Study says no

There is no evidence of higher risk of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy following vaccination against Covid-19 or infection with the disease, according to a new study.

News • Presented at ISUOG 2022

New cloud-based image sharing and reporting software for OB/GYN

A new cloud-based ultrasound image sharing and reporting software will utilize image data to convey fetal growth projections and provide a platform for physician-to-physician and physician-to-patient communication.

Article • Infant mortaility

Care of premature newborns: Unequal odds in Africa

Nowhere does the birthplace of a preterm baby determine life or death more than in Africa. A concerted effort is made to reduce the continent’s dramatically high neonatal mortality rates.

News • C-section in LMIC

C-Safe: Preventing Caesarean section deaths in developing nations

Experts are leading a new initiative to help save the lives of thousands of women giving birth by Caesarean section in developing nations (LMIC).

News • Widespread effects

Tougher childbirth in pandemic Europe

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to deficiencies and large inequalities in the care of mothers and newborns in Europe.

News • Incubator 2.0

Artificial uterus improves odds for preemies

“An artificial uterus – the incubator 2.0 – will become a reality within 10 years,” says Jasmijn Kok, one of the founders of Juno, a spin-off from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands. Together with researchers from the department of Industrial Design from the University, including her twin sister Lyla Kok, she wants to bring a technology that increases the chances of…

News • Research

Covid-19 infection increases risk for preeclampsia

A study found that women who contract Covid-19 during pregnancy are at significantly higher risk of developing pre-eclampsia. In their study, researchers said their systematic review shows that women with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy had 62% higher odds of developing preeclampsia than those without the infection during pregnancy.

News • Immune system research

How the gut microbiome can help prevent brain damage in preemies

Extremely premature infants are at a high risk for brain damage. Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna have now found possible targets for the early treatment of such damage outside the brain: Bacteria in the gut of premature infants may play a key role.

News • Immune response in pregnant and lactating women

Mothers pass on Covid-19 protection to their babies after vaccination

In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard have found the new mRNA Covid-19 vaccines to be highly effective in producing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in pregnant and lactating women. They also demonstrated the vaccines confer protective immunity to newborns…

Video • Perinatal imaging

Fetal MRI precisely defines and detects abnormalities in unborn babies

MRI scanning can more precisely define and detect head, neck, thoracic, abdominal and spinal malformations in unborn babies, finds a large multidisciplinary study led by King’s College London with Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London (UCL). In the study, published in Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, the team of researchers and…

News • Cesarean consequences

C-section increases obesity risk? False alarm, says new study

Women who have C-sections are no more likely to have children who develop obesity than women who give birth naturally, according to a large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal PLOS Medicine. The findings contradict several smaller studies that did find an association between C-section deliveries and offspring obesity but did not consider the numerous…

News • Danger in the womb

Xenoestrogens in the womb: a burden for babies

Early childhood life in the womb is particularly sensitive to the effects of environmental pollutants. A team from Empa and the University of Vienna has now for the first time been able to show how a pollutant from contaminated food – the environmental estrogen zearalenone – spreads in the womb and is metabolized into harmful metabolites. Xenoestrogens are absorbed through the environment,…

News • End stage kidney disease

Pre-eclampsia increases ESKD risk

Women with pre-eclampsia during pregnancy have a five-fold increased risk of end stage kidney disease (ESKD) later in life compared to women who don’t develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, according to a new study. Professor Louise Kenny from the University of Liverpool is one of the co-authors of the study, which is published in PLOS Medicine and also involved researchers at University…

News • Clinical trials beginning

Possible preeclampsia treatment is on the way

For over 20 years, a team of researchers at Lund University has worked on developing a drug against preeclampsia – a serious disorder which annually affects around 9 million pregnant women worldwide and is one of the main causes of death in both mothers and unborn babies. Now the researchers have published a study in the journal Scientific Reports that opens up opportunities for further…

News • Premiere

First-ever in-utero surgery to treat spina bifida

A team of specialists at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh have performed UPMC's first in-utero surgery to close an open neural tube defect in a baby months before her birth.

Video • Ultrasound systems

Introducing the newest members of the Arietta family

At ECR 2019, Jean-Luc Budillon, President & COO of Hitachi Medical Systems Europe, introduces the newest members of the Arietta Family. The Arietta 50, Arietta 50LE and Arietta 65 ultrasound systems are perfectly equipped for shared service in diagnostic imaging. From OB/Gyn to radiology, the 3 new Arietta systems complete Hitachi's portfolio of ultrasound solutions.

News • Pregnancy

Giving birth raises risk of breast cancer in younger women

Younger women who have recently had a child may have a higher risk of breast cancer than their peers of the same age who do not have children, according to a large-scale analysis co-led by a University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher. The findings, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, may seem contrary to conventional wisdom that childbirth is…

Article • Hitachi’s Fusion imaging

Fusion imaging could improve detection

Hitachi’s Fusion imaging combining MRI and Real-time Virtual Sonography (RVS) showing a cervix lesion with color Doppler Fusion imaging techniques are being trialled to help advance the diagnosis of cervical cancer and endometrial cancer.

Finding the right algorithms to tackle big data

Tracy Accardi, Hologic’s Vice President (Global R&D), spoke of the importance of innovation, tomosynthesis, artificial intelligence/deep learning and open dialogue with the radiology community. Hologic addresses a broad spectrum of gynaecological, perinatal, aesthetic, skeletal and breast women’s health issues. To enhance this approach, Accardi, explained the importance of working closely…

Article • prenatal diagnostics

Ultrasound is indispensable in prenatal exams

‘In prenatal diagnostics, particularly in the first trimester, ultrasound continues to be the modality of choice when looking for malformations,’ says Professor Markus Hoopmann, deputy director of prenatal medicine and gynaecological ultrasound at the Women’s Health Clinic in Tübingen University Hospital. This case for ultrasound is significant because today fetal DNA that circulates in…

Philips ultrasound innovations provide lifelike 3D images

Philips TrueVue, GlassVue, aReveal A.I. and TouchVue improve workflow and diagnostic confidence, enhancing the connection between clinicians and their patients.

Article • Perinatology

Diagnostics and treatment of congenital heart defects

Today, many congenital heart defects can be diagnosed in the unborn child – and even treated in utero. Monique Haak (46), gynaecologist-perinatologist and fetal surgeon at Leids University Medical Center (LUMC) in Leiden, The Netherlands, is an expert in the diagnosis and surgery of fetal heart defects.

Easy to learn yet high performance US

The Acuson NX3* and Acuson NX3 Elite*, two new ultrasound systems from Siemens Healthcare, are on show at this year’s Medica Trade Fair. ‘Both mid-range systems offer a simple, intuitive interface combined with innovative imaging solutions for examinations primarily in general medicine, obstetrics/gynaecology, paediatrics and neurology,’ the manufacturer reports.

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