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Biomedical subjects

M G Rosen

Publications and source records attributed to M G Rosen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The incidence of cerebral palsy.

The clinician is often held responsible for obstetric events that are suspected of being related to cerebral palsy. To review the incidence of cerebral palsy and to aid the clinician in this situation, a search of published studies was conducted. Composite rates of cerebral palsy in different birth weight infants and cerebral palsy with and without serious mental retardation were calculated. The cumulative incidence rate at the age of 5 to 7 years was 2.7 cases of cerebral palsy for 1000 birth cohorts. Approximately 36% of all cerebral palsy occurred in the infant less than 2500 gm. Serious mental retardation (intelligence quotient less than 50) accompanied cerebral palsy approximately 30% of the time for the term infant and 18% of the time when the infant was less than 2500 gm. On the basis of a past estimation that 70% of cerebral palsy is of antepartum or unknown origin, the term infant at risk for intrapartum-attributed cerebral palsy may be about 1 in 2000 term births.

Birth Weight

Abnormal labor and infant brain damage.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether arrest disorders result in increased neurologic abnormalities in infancy or childhood. METHODS: Four hundred thirteen infants with arrest disorders as defined by Friedman criteria were matched to a similar population without arrest disorders. The median length of follow-up was 6 years for the study infants and 5.07 years for the controls. The numbers of children with abnormalities in the groups with and without arrest disorders, as well as the specific abnormalities encountered, were stratified by method of delivery. RESULTS: Thirty neurologic abnormalities were found in the arrest group and 37 in the control group; thus, the null hypotheses could not be rejected. In addition, although the control group was not followed as long as the study population, the diagnosis of abnormalities was more frequent in the later years in the controls. This suggests that had the follow-ups been equal, there would have been stronger proof that arrest by itself was not associated with infant brain damage. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that labor diagnoses of prolonged active phase, protractions or arrests, and failure to descend are not associated with increased neurologic abnormalities. Delivery by cesarean or vaginal birth and use of oxytocin are not factors in the etiology of major brain damage.

Brain Damage, Chronic

Obstetric care and cesarean birth rates: a program to monitor quality of care.

OBJECTIVE: To study the quality of obstetric care in relation to rising cesarean rates, a Task Force was formed in New York state by the Department of Health and ACOG District II. The Task Force also included the Organization of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nurses and the Hospital Association of New York State. The goals were to enhance hospitals' in-house review processes, standardize terminology, and improve the quality of care. A premise of the program was that if quality of care improved, cesarean rates would fall. METHODS: A Dictionary of Terms was developed to standardize clinical and diagnostic terminology. A two-tiered review process was instituted, using internal and external hospital reviews. A format for in-house review of obstetric care was developed and recommended to hospitals. External reviews were conducted at 24 hospitals during 1989-1990. Review teams, composed of obstetrician-gynecologists and obstetric nurses in active obstetric practice, assessed obstetric facilities, staffing, medical care, and the in-house review process. Contacts continued with the hospitals after site visits to follow up on implementation of recommendations. General recommendations to improve care, based on the overall program experience, were distributed to hospitals and physicians as part of educational efforts to improve quality of care. RESULTS: The state cesarean rate reversed. Statistics for 1989 and 1990 showed a stronger downward trend in reviewed hospitals than in non-reviewed hospitals. A survey of reviewed hospitals reported a positive response to the review process. CONCLUSION: A successful quality assurance program can be jointly developed by a state regulatory agency and a medical specialty society.

Cesarean Section

Vaginal birth after cesarean: a meta-analysis of morbidity and mortality.

The cesarean birth rate has continued to climb despite efforts to counteract it. A major reason for this rise is the practice of elective repeat cesarean. We conducted a meta-analysis that included 31 studies with a total of 11,417 trials of labor to evaluate the association between birth route after a cesarean and morbidity and mortality for the mother and infant. Summary odds ratios were calculated. Maternal febrile morbidity was significantly lower after a trial of labor than after an elective repeat cesarean. The intended birth route made no difference in the rates of uterine dehiscence or rupture. The use of oxytocin, presence of a recurrent indication for the previous cesarean, and presence of an unknown uterine scar were also unassociated with dehiscence or rupture. After excluding antepartum deaths, fetuses weighing less than 750 g, and congenital anomalies incompatible with life, we found no difference in perinatal death rates. The proportion of 5-minute Apgar scores of 6 or lower was higher after a trial of labor, but we were unable to exclude very low birth weight fetuses or those with congenital anomalies from this analysis. Our findings argue for trials of labor for more women after a cesarean birth.

Cesarean Section

Caring for our future: a report by the expert panel on the content of prenatal care.

The report of the Expert Panel on Prenatal Care entitled Caring for Our Future: The Content of Prenatal Care was presented to the Assistant Secretary for Health, James Mason, MD, on October 2, 1989. The Panel noted the need for attention not only to the mother and fetus, but also to the infant and family. Besides traditional medical care concerns, the importance of psychosocial and environmental patient and family needs was emphasized. The Panel felt that the addition of the pre-conception visit to routine prenatal care made care more effective. Suggestions as to visit timing and content were made. The Panel noted the need for further understanding of many of the activities performed routinely in prenatal care.

Female

Vaginal birth after cesarean: a meta-analysis of indicators for success.

The cesarean birth rate has continued to climb despite efforts to counteract this trend. A major reason for this rise is the practice of doing an elective repeat cesarean. Our study used a statistical model of meta-analysis to analyze the findings of 29 individual studies that looked at the association between the success of a trial of labor and various preexisting conditions. We hypothesized that various preexisting factors, including cephalopelvic disproportion, previous breech, previous vaginal delivery, more than one previous cesarean, use of oxytocin, and the length of labor and extent of dilatation in the previous cesarean, would affect the prediction of the outcome of a trial of labor. After determining odds ratios for the individual preexisting factors from the individual studies, we calculated overall odds ratios which incorporated the findings from all of the studies. For previous cephalopelvic disproportion, the odds were 0.5 for a successful trial of labor; for prior breech, 2.1; for women with a previous vaginal delivery, 2.1; for women who had had more than one cesarean, 0.7; and for women receiving oxytocin, 0.3. We were unable to analyze other preexisting factors because the data were not available, but short discussions of some of these other factors are offered. Even though the success rates do vary with the different preexisting factors, the clinician may anticipate a greater than 50% chance for success in any individual labor.

Breech Presentation

Human fetal respiratory movements: a technique for noninvasive monitoring with the use of a tocodynamometer.

A tocodynamometer applied to the maternal abdomen is used for monitoring human fetal respiratory movements (FRM). This provides a recording of fetal chest wall movements from which observations and measurements relating to fetal respiratory physiology may be made. The FRM must be differentiated from materanal vascular and respiratory movements, as well as fetal movements and cardiac pulsations. The technique lends itself to extended periods of observation, since it does not transmit energy to the fetus as in other techniques. The simplicity of the technique, combined with the use of monitoring devices already available in most hospitals, warrants further observation of this method of respiratory movement monitoring in the developing fetus.

Female

Use of computers in the labor and delivery suite: an overview.

Some simple computers for fetal monitoring are already commercially available. These systems are designed to alarm when abnormalities reflected by the fetal heart are detected during labor. Unfortunately, the problems of fetal heart rate/intrauterine pressure data analysis have been oversimplified. An "ideal" obstetric computer-based data management system would begin, as the clinician should, with the assessment of risk from the patient's past history, pregnancy course, and labor progress as a basis for analyzing the condition of the fetus during labor. Systems available now are of limited scope, expensive, and of unproved clinical value. Premature attempts at clinical computerization will accomplish little, except to give computers a bad name. Let the buyer beware!

Computers