Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVES: Fetal anatomic surveys are difficult to perform on obese patients. However, there are limited data available on methods to improve the rate of complete anatomy scans in these patients. The objective of this study was to determine whether the addition of an early second-trimester fetal anatomy scan improves the rate of complete anatomy scans in obese patients. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 100 obese patients at a city hospital who were scheduled for a fetal anatomy scan using transvaginal and transabdominal sonography at 14 to 16 weeks (early anatomy scan) and an anatomy scan at 18 to 22 weeks ("routine" anatomy scan). Inclusion criteria were a body mass index of 30 kg/m(2) or higher, singleton pregnancy, and presentation for prenatal care before 16 weeks. Data for the routine anatomy scan alone versus a combination of early and routine anatomy scans was calculated by the McNemar chi(2) test for categorical variables and the Wilcoxon signed ranks test for continuous variables. RESULTS: The addition of the early anatomy scan significantly increased the rate of complete anatomy scans from 42% to 51% (P < .01). It also significantly improved visualization of the head, thorax, and abdomen and significantly increased the mean number of items seen (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The addition of an early second-trimester fetal anatomy scan to a routine anatomy scan performed later in the second trimester significantly improves the rate of complete anatomy scans in obese patients.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical history and ultrasound findings in women with decidualized endometriomas surgically removed during pregnancy. METHODS: In this retrospective study, women with a histological diagnosis of decidualized endometrioma during pregnancy who had undergone preoperative ultrasound examination were identified from the databases of seven ultrasound centers. The ultrasound appearance of the tumors was described on the basis of ultrasound images, ultrasound reports and research protocols (when applicable) by one author from each center using the terms and definitions of the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) group. In addition, two authors reviewed together available digital ultrasound images and used pattern recognition to describe the typical ultrasound appearance of decidualized endometriomas. RESULTS: Eighteen eligible women were identified. Median age was 34 (range, 20-43) years. Median gestational age at surgical removal of the decidualized endometrioma was 18 (range, 11-41) weeks. Seventeen women (94%) were asymptomatic and one presented with pelvic pain. In three of the 18 women an ultrasound diagnosis of endometrioma had been made before pregnancy. The original ultrasound examiner was uncertain whether the mass was benign or malignant in 10 (56%) women and suggested a diagnosis of benignity in nine (50%) women, borderline in eight women (44%), and invasive malignancy in one (6%) woman. Seventeen decidualized endometriomas contained a papillary projection, and in 16 of these at least one of the papillary projections was vascularized at power or color Doppler examination. The number of cyst locules varied between one (n = 11) and four. No woman had ascites. When using pattern recognition, most decidualized endometriomas (14/17, 82%) were described as manifesting vascularized rounded papillary projections with a smooth contour in an ovarian cyst with one or a few cyst locules and ground-glass or low-level echogenicity of the cyst fluid. CONCLUSIONS: Rounded vascularized papillary projections with smooth contours within an ovarian cyst with cyst contents of ground-glass or low-level echogenicity are typical of surgically removed decidualized endometriomas in pregnant women, most of whom are asymptomatic

OBJECTIVE: To provide further sonographic, clinical and histological evidence that Cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) is a precursor to and an early form of second- and third-trimester morbidly adherent placenta (MAP). METHODS: This is a report of 10 cases of CSP identified early, in which the patients decided to continue the pregnancy, following counseling that emphasized the possibility of both significant pregnancy complications and a need for hysterectomy. Pregnancies were followed at 2-4-week intervals with ultrasound scans and customary monitoring. The aim was for patients to reach near term or term and then undergo elective Cesarean delivery and, if necessary, hysterectomy. Charts, ultrasound images, operative reports and histopathological examinations of the placentae were reviewed. RESULTS: The ultrasound diagnosis of CSP was made before 10 weeks. By the second trimester, all patients exhibited sonographic signs of MAP. Nine of the 10 patients delivered liveborn neonates between 32 and 37 weeks. In the tenth pregnancy, progressive shortening of the cervix and intractable vaginal bleeding prompted termination, with hysterectomy, at 20 weeks. Two other patients in the cohort had antepartum complications (bleeding at 33 weeks in one case and contractions at 32 weeks in the other). All patients underwent hysterectomy at the time of Cesarean delivery, with total blood loss ranging from 300 to 6000 mL. Placenta percreta was the histopathological diagnosis in all 10 cases. CONCLUSION: The cases in this series validate the hypothesis that CSP is a precursor of MAP, both sharing the same histopathology. Our findings provide evidence that can be used to counsel patients with CSP, to enable them to make an informed choice between first-trimester termination and continuation of the pregnancy, with its risk of premature delivery and loss of uterus and fertility

OBJECTIVE: To determine, by evaluation of histological slides, images and descriptions of early (second-trimester) placenta accreta (EPA) and placental implantation in cases of Cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP), whether these are pathologically indistinguishable and whether they both represent different stages in the disease continuum leading to morbidly adherent placenta in the third trimester. METHODS: The database of a previously published review of CSP and EPA was used to identify articles with histopathological descriptions and electronic images for pathological review. When possible, microscopic slides and/or paraffin blocks were obtained from the original researchers. We also included from our own institutions cases of CSP and EPA for which pathology specimens were available. Two pathologists examined all the material independently and, blinded to each other's findings, provided a pathological diagnosis based on microscopic appearance. Interobserver agreement in diagnosis was determined. RESULTS: Forty articles were identified, which included 31 cases of CSP and 13 cases of EPA containing histopathological descriptions and/or images of the pathology. We additionally included six cases of CSP and eight cases of EPA from our own institutions, giving a total of 58 cases available for histological evaluation (37 CSP and 21 EPA) containing clear definitions of morbidly adherent placenta. In the 29 cases for which images/slides were available for histopathological evaluation, both pathologists attested to the various degrees of myometrial and/or scar tissue invasion by placental villi with scant or no intervening decidua, consistent with the classic definition of morbidly adherent placenta. Based on the reviewed material, cases with a diagnosis of EPA and those with a diagnosis of CSP showed identical histopathological features. Interobserver correlation was high (kappa = 0.93). CONCLUSIONS: EPA and placental implantation in CSP are histopathologically indistinguishable and may represent different stages in the disease continuum leading to morbidly adherent placenta in the third trimester

INTRODUCTION: To compare pre, versus post-ripening ultrasound (US) assessment of the cervix for predicting successful induction of labor (IOL). METHODS: This was a prospective observational study conducted in women undergoing IOL at > 37 weeks of pregnancy. Bishop score, cervical length (CL), cervical funneling and posterior cervical angle (CA) were recorded before and after ripening of the cervix. Findings were compared between successful and non- successful groups. Statistical analysis was carried out using Mann-Whitney (MW) test and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Seventy-one women who underwent IOL for different reasons were enrolled. IOL was successful in 57 (80.3%) and non-successful in 14 (19.7%) women. Post-ripening CL (p<0.0001 in MW/OR=0.749 [95% CI: 0.642, 0.875], p<0.0001 in Univariate Logistic) was the only variable consistently significant in different univariate tests and confounderadjusted models to predict successful IOL. Multiple logistic regressions revealed that post-ripening US cervical length was the only significant predictor of successful IOL when compared with other measurements before and after ripening of the cervix (OR=0.665 [95% CI: 0.498, 0.888], p=0.006). (Table 1.) CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that transvaginal US assessment of the CL after ripening of the cervix is the only independent predictor of vaginal delivery in women undergoing IOL. (Table Presented)