American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' 58th Annual Clinical Meeting
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' 58th Annual Clinical Meeting took place May 15 to 19 in San Francisco, and attracted thousands of experts from around the world. The meeting presented more than 250 research findings and featured the latest unpublished research on topics such as cesarean delivery, contraception, experimental drugs, infertility, infectious diseases, gynecologic cancer, menopause, obstetric procedures, and urogynecology.
"We had a number of wonderful presentations on how we can best identify women with perinatal and postpartum depression and get treatment to them," said Scientific Program Committee member, Kurt Barnhart, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "We also heard a couple of great research talks saying that the treatments seem to be more effective and the side effects lower than previously mentioned."
The meeting's opening ceremonies featured two of the country's leading experts on women's mental health and a former First Lady of New Jersey, who suffered postpartum depression with both of her pregnancies.
"Evidence-based treatment for depression includes psychotherapy and antidepressant medication, and other treatments such as bright morning light therapy, acupuncture, and exercise are being studied for use in pregnancy to expand therapeutic options," Katherine L. Wisner, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said in a statement. "Although non-drug treatments are preferred by many pregnant women, the fact is, the availability of accessible, acceptable, and affordable mental health intervention of any type is limited," she added. "A comprehensive disease management strategy holds the potential to reduce maternal disability and avert a new generation at risk."
More Information
"Other significant research included a presentation on what we call oncofertility: the preservation of fertility options for women after cancer treatment," Barnhart said. "Theresa Woodruff [Ph.D., of Northwestern University in Chicago] was the one who spoke about this. She's heading up a large consortium of identifying and working out which women after cancer treatment can preserve their fertility and what we can do to help them preserve their fertility. She summarized the literature saying we are now better identifying who might best conserve their fertility before treatment with such things as frozen embryos or eggs, and which women might be better served by monitoring their fertility or seeking fertility treatment after their cancer treatment."
More Information
"The award-winning prize paper was entitled 'Optimal Time for Delivery in the Case of Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes at 32-36 6/7 Weeks of Gestation,'" Barnhart said.
During the study, Christopher Nold, M.D., of the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, and colleagues studied 191 newborns born of pregnancies with preterm premature rupture of the membranes, with a range of 30 babies at 36 weeks of gestation to a high of 53 babies at 34 weeks of gestation. Nold and colleagues concluded that delivery at 34.1 weeks of gestation in the case of premature rupture of the membrane pregnancy would avoid 95 percent of composite morbidity.
Abstract - Nold
The second-place and third-place papers were "Improved Documentation After the Implementation of a Standardized Shoulder Dystocia Delivery Form," which was presented by Vasiliki A. Moragianni, M.D., of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston; and "Sexual Behavior in Obese and Overweight Adolescent Females," which was presented by Margaret S. Villers, M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
After comparing 180 vaginal deliveries complicated by shoulder dystocia before and 80 after implementation of a shoulder dystocia delivery form, Moragianni and colleagues concluded that, "inclusion of a standardized shoulder dystocia delivery form in the delivery record statistically improves the rate of documentation of estimated fetal weight and head-to-shoulder delivery interval."
Abstract - Moragianni
Villers and colleagues studied 21,733 females who participated in the 2003 to 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Compared to normal-weight girls, they found that sexual debut before age 13 was more likely among obese and overweight girls (odds ratios, 2.6 and 1.6, respectively), that obese and overweight girls were more likely to have more than three lifetime partners (odds ratios, 1.3 and 1.3, respectively), and that any form of contraception use was lower among obese and overweight girls (odds ratios, 0.61 and 0.67, respectively). "Our current educational practices are not addressing the needs of sexually active obese adolescents," the authors concluded.
Abstract - Villers
This year's recipients of the Donald F. Richardson Memorial Prize Paper Award were Tania Basu, M.D., of the University of California at San Diego, and Michael Czerkes, M.D., of the Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Basu's study -- "Post-Abortal Contraception: Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Immediate Post-Abortal IUD" -- compared 204 women who received an intrauterine device immediately following an abortion and 407 women who chose another form of post-abortal contraception. She and her colleagues found that an immediate post-abortal intrauterine device is safe and more effective than other forms of contraceptives.
Czerkes' study -- "Buprenorphine Vs. Methadone Treatment for Opiate Addiction in Pregnancy: An Evaluation of Neonatal Outcomes" -- found that buprenorphine is a safer treatment than methadone for opiate addiction during pregnancy.
ACOG: Medication Beneficial for Heavy Menstrual Bleeding
WEDNESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- In women with heavy menstrual bleeding, a novel, oral tranexamic acid formulation may improve quality of life, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in San Francisco.
Abstract - Lukes
More Information
ACOG: HPV Vaccine Reduces Abnormal Cytology Diagnoses
WEDNESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Vaccination with the AS04-adjuvanted HPV-16 and HPV-18 vaccine is associated with significantly reduced abnormal cytology diagnoses in young women, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in San Francisco.
Abstract - Martens
More Information
ACOG: Flibanserin Effective for Sexual Desire Disorder
TUESDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- In premenopausal women with generalized acquired hypoactive sexual desire disorder, the medication flibanserin appears to be an effective treatment, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in San Francisco.
Abstract- Jolly
More Information
Objective Measures Equivalent in Stress Incontinence Surgeries
TUESDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- In women with stress incontinence, rates of objectively assessed treatment success with the retropubic and transobturator midurethral slings meet the prespecified criteria for equivalence, though the rates of subjectively assessed success do not, according to a study published online May 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with a presentation at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' 58th Annual Clinical Meeting in San Francisco.
Abstract
Full Text
Editorial
