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Background: Hormonal, vascular, and behavioral changes during pregnancy can negatively impact a woman's oral health, resulting in conditions such as gingivitis, dental sensitivity, and caries. Although oral health is critical during pregnancy, it remains frequently overlooked. In this study, the oral health status and hygiene practices of pregnant women attending two university hospitals in southern Italy were evaluated. Methods: A cross-sectional cohort study was conducted with 72 pregnant women. Data were collected through an anonymous questionnaire that evaluated oral hygiene habits, dental visits, and oral pathologies, followed by a clinical examination. The examination included the assessment of the Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) index and the Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) scores. Results: Among the participants, 61% were in their 9th month of pregnancy. The mean DMFT score was 7.9, and the mean OHI score was 3.6. Only 19.4% of participants had visited a dentist in the past 6 months, while 97.2% reported brushing their teeth just once per day. Gingival bleeding was reported by 72.2% of the women, and 38.9% experienced dental sensitivity, with both conditions worsening during pregnancy. Conclusions: The need for greater oral hygiene education and regular dental care during pregnancy is highlighted in this study. Integrating oral health maintenance into prenatal care programs is essential for preventing pregnancy-related oral diseases and promoting maternal and fetal well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality in women of reproductive age. In recent years, the development of preventive and therapeutic strategies has significantly increased survival rates. While this represents an important medical achievement, it has also raised a major social issue regarding the need to ensure an adequate quality of life for surviving patients. Many of these women are left without their reproductive capacity at an age when their desire for motherhood has not yet been fulfilled. Infertility or subfertility in cancer survivors is actually a growing problem, complicated by the current trend of increasingly delaying pregnancy. The psychological effects of this issue can be devastating, sometimes even more so than the cancer diagnosis itself. Although today fertility-sparing surgeries can ensure excellent reproductive outcomes with minimal oncological risk, obstetric sequelae remain significant, and affected women often require specialized care pathways. Additionally, adequate counselling is still not provided to all patients who cannot access fertility-sparing treatments and who find themselves without hope. Reproductive medicine is therefore facing the modern challenge of offering concrete options to help these patients realize their desire for motherhood. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the therapeutic options available to young women facing an early- or later-stage diagnosis of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women of fertile age. Some studies suggest that a ketogenic diet (KD) may have a role in treating PCOS. We aimed to demonstrate the long-term effectiveness of a KD in PCOS. Methods: Eighteen patients with PCOS phenotype A were enrolled: 28% were of normal weight, 28% were overweight, and 44% had obesity. All participants followed a KD without meal replacements for 45 days. After this period, patients underwent gradual carbohydrate reintroduction over 45 days, and thereafter healthy eating indications were given. Twelve patients completed the study. The patients were assessed at baseline and after 6 months. Anthropometric data, body composition, pelvic ultrasound, blood chemistry, hirsutism, and menstrual cycles frequency were recorded; Results: Besides improvement in anthropometric parameters, menstrual cycles (p 0.012), ovarian volume (p 0.029), FSH (p 0.05), LH (p 0.037), and progesterone (p 0.017) improved independently of weight or fat loss. However, testosterone and hirsutism improvements were influenced by weight and fat mass reduction. Conclusions: Our study showed that a KD followed by gradual carbohydrate reintroduction in PCOS has beneficial effects medium term, mostly independent of body weight loss, even in normal-weight women, suggesting that nutritional ketosis exerts beneficial effects per se. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the relationship between the presence of the sonographic finding of chorionic bump (CB) during first trimester and miscarriage rate or other perinatal outcomes. Methods: PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cinahl and Clinicaltrials.gov databases, from inception to April 8, 2021 were explored utilizing combinations of the relevant medical subject heading (MeSH) terms, key words, and word variants for "CB" and "pregnancy." Prospective and retrospective case-control studies were eligible for inclusion. Odds ratios (ORs) comparing obstetrical outcomes among pregnancies with CB and normal pregnancies were determined with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using random‐effects models. Primary outcome of interest was miscarriage rate. Secondary outcomes were: alive newborns (ANB) rate, adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO) and vaginal bleeding. Quality assessment of the included studies was performed using the Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale. Results: Five studies including 173 pregnant women with CB (study group) and 1,263 pregnant women without CB (control group) were included. Pregnancies affected by CB resulted to be associated with a significantly higher miscarriage rate (43.3% vs 20.7%; OR 2.95 95% CI 2.02–4.31, p <.00001), and conversely with a significantly lower rate of ANB (60.3% vs 82%; OR 0.35 95% CI 0.20–0.63, p =.0004). In addition, the risk of APO was around three-fold higher in the study group (52.2% vs 4.12%; OR 2.98 95% CI 1.04–8.51, p =.04), while the rate of vaginal bleeding was higher in the study group, without reaching a statistical significance (48% vs 16.4%; OR 2.21 95% CI 0.64–7.65 p =.21). Discussion: The presence of CB at first trimester ultrasound significantly increases the risk of miscarriage and APO, and intact the rate of ANB. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Key message: The presence of CB on early first trimester ultrasound increases three-fold the risk of miscarriage and adverse pregnancy outcomes and reduces the rate of alive newborns. It is important to consider CB as an ultrasound marker that requires a close surveillance throughout pregnancy to prevent long-term complications and provide adequate counseling to the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of our systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) according to the pre-pregnancy body mass index. Materials and methods: Electronic databases were searched (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Sciences, Scopus, ClinicalTrial.gov, OVID, and Cochrane Library). Selection criteria included prospective and retrospective cohort studies reporting the prevalence of fetal NTDs in obese, overweight, and underweight pregnant women. Odds ratios (ORs) comparing risk among these subsets of pregnancies with normal weight mothers were determined with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The evaluated outcome was the association between maternal underweight, overweight, and obesity and the risk of NTDs. Results: We included ten studies published between 2000 and 2017, including underweight, overweight, and obese pregnant women with fetal NTD (cases) and pregnant women with recommended BMI with fetal NTD (controls). Compared with normal BMI women, obese mothers were at significantly higher risk of fetal NTDs (0.53 vs. 0.33%; OR 1.62 95% CI 1.32–1.99, p <.0001), while no difference for the risk of NTDs was found when comparing overweight (0.34 vs. 0.32%; OR 1.09 95% CI 0.92–1.3, p =.3) and underweight (0.65 vs. 0.24%; OR 1.34 95% CI 0.73–2.47, p =.34) with normal weight pregnant women. Discussion: Obese pregnant women are at significantly higher risk NTDs, while no significant difference has been found in overweight and underweight pregnant women. Key message: Obese pregnant women are at significantly higher risk of NTDs, such as spina bifida compared with normal weight women. No difference was found when comparing overweight and underweight with normal weight women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) may affect up to 90% of menopausal women, including vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA), burning, pain, bleeding, irritation, dyspareunia, anorgasmia, and urinary symptoms. Vaginal symptoms from lack of estrogens can have a significant impact on the sexual health and quality of life (QoL) in as many as 50% of postmenopausal women. Several therapeutic alternatives, both hormonal and non- hormonal, have been proposed. Microablative CO2 laser is one of the three non-surgical energy-based therapies, with Erbium:YAG laser and temperature-controlled radiofrequency (RF). Microablative CO2 laser induces morphological changes in vaginal tissues and results of several clinical trials suggest that this type of laser improves symptoms of GSM. Moreover, this treatment seems to be safe. Given the increasingly widespread use of laser CO2 as a non-hormonal alternative treatment for GSM, the authors reviewed the current published literature evaluating this therapy, to compare efficacy and safety of different protocols.