With only a few hours left for the calendar year 2018 to come to an end, take a look at the top 10 most read posts of the year as we gear up to look forward to another year of medical advances and health research.
ACOG guidance on prevention of surgical-site infection in gynecologic surgery
Surgical site infections (SSIs) after gynecological surgery is a significant cause of postoperative morbidity leading to repeated hospital visits. These infections also incur heavy social and economic burden on patients and the healthcare system.
The recent ACOG practice bulletin is published in the June issue of Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and replaces Practice Bulletin Number 104, May 2009, and Committee Opinion Number 571, September 2013.
New approach to ovarian cystectomy: Transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery
Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is a challenging minimally invasive procedure where ‘scarless’ abdominal surgeries are performed through an endoscope inserted through a natural orifice (mouth, anus, vagina, and urethra) and is considered as a less invasive approach to laparoscopic surgeries.
NOTES is considered a logical next step in the evolution of minimally invasive surgery, and the first NOTES procedure in humans is often considered to be a transgastric appendectomy performed in India in 2006 which was presented but not reported in manuscript form.
Blob and Bagel sign on Ultrasound can be labeled as definitive for Ectopic Pregnancy
Women with the Blob and Bagel ultrasound sign should be reclassified from having ‘probable’ ectopic pregnancy (EP) to ‘definitive’ EP and should be treated as such reports the result of a large retrospective cohort study published March 11, 2018, in Journal of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Ectopic Pregnancy is still the leading cause of first-trimester maternal deaths and constitutes 4% of all pregnancy-related deaths. The incidence of ectopic is highest in women undergoing In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and ranges from 4% to 11% of all pregnancies.
Novel cross-over sign in cesarean scar pregnancy helps predicts the risk of invasive placentation
First trimester ultrasound scan evaluating the relationship between the gestational sac and the endometrial line in women with cesarean scar pregnancy(CSP) helps predicts the development of abnormally invasive placenta (AIP) and consecutive intra and post-operative surgical morbidities reports the results of a retrospective case series published in the Journal of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Recent advances in prenatal imaging and increase rate of cesarean sections have led to increased diagnosis of CSP. Although, most of the patients with CSP present with severe hemorrhage or rupture uterus, that requires emergency surgical management, few advances further, evolving into AIP.
Negative sliding sign by ultrasound in repeat cesarean section predicts the presence of severe intrabdominal adhesions
A negative sliding sign by ultrasonography (USG) in patients with previous cesarean section helps alert the surgeon to expect massive intraabdominal adhesions, difficult repeat cesarean section and need of blood transfusion during surgery reports the results of a prospective observational study published ahead of print in the February issue of Journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Postoperative adhesion formation is quite prevalent after an abdominal or pelvic surgery and any method which can predict the existence of such adhesion could optimize the outcome of current surgery.
GE Healthcare introduces its new automated breast ultrasound for dense breast
There could not have been a more appropriate time for the launch of GE Healthcare new Invenia Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS) 2.0 than October, which is celebrated as breast cancer awareness month. The Invenia ABUS is the only FDA approved 3D ultrasound system for supplemental screening for breast cancer along with mammography.
In conjunction with mammography, it increases the chances of cancer detection in the dense breast by 55%. All breasts are not the same, the density of breast is determined by a proportion of fat and breast tissue—when the percentage of breast tissue exceeds that of fat, breasts are labeled as being dense.
A practical guide to count ovarian antral follicles by ultrasound
A consensus opinion highlighting the main techniques of ovarian antral follicle count (AFC), and providing recommendations for future research is published in the special issue on Reproductive Medicine of the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The consensus makes several recommendations for varied methods used in counting the antral follicles, but no single method is superior over others and the choice should make the best use of resources available in a setting.
ACOG update: Letrozole is the first line therapy for ovulation induction in PCOS
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) now recommends Letrozole (aromatase inhibitor) as the first-line treatment for ovulation induction in women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) due to data demonstrating increased ovulation rates, clinical pregnancy rates and live-birth rate vs clomiphene citrate. The guidelines are published as Practice Bulletin No. 194 in the June issue of Journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
This replaces the Practice Bulletin Number 108, published October 2009, which recommends letrozole as first-line therapy for ovulation induction only in women with PCOS and a BMI greater than 30.
Sonographically measured fetal head circumference ≥35 cm at term increases the odds of cesarean delivery
Sonographically measured fetal head circumference ≥35 cm, within a week of delivery increases the odds of unplanned cesarean section by 75% report the results of multicenter observational study accepted for publication in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Currently, In the US, one in every third baby is born by cesarean section and the high rate is a cause of concern for the healthcare industry.
FDA approves a bedside test for assessing the risk of spontaneous preterm birth
QIAGEN won FDA approval for marketing its Novel PartoSure® point of care test for estimating the risk of spontaneous preterm birth in patients who present with symptoms of preterm labor. PartoSure represents a breakthrough in research and development of diagnostic tests for preterm birth.
Predicting preterm birth is a diagnostic challenge and nearly 85% of patients admitted to the hospital for threatened preterm labor (PTL) do not deliver within the next 7 days, resulting in unnecessary interventions.
