Context Maternal obesity increases the risk of preterm delivery. Obesity is known to be associated with altered lipid metabolism. Objective To investigate the associations between high maternal triglyceride (mTG) levels during early pregnancy and risks of preterm delivery stratified by early pregnancy body mass index (BMI). Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting University-based maternity center. Patients 49,612 women with singleton pregnancy who underwent fasting serum lipid screening during early pregnancy. Main Outcome Measures Risk of preterm delivery (total, <37 weeks; early, 28 to 33 weeks; and late, 34 to 36 weeks). Results Among women enrolled, 2494 had a preterm delivery, including 438 early preterm and 2056 late preterm delivery. High mTG (>90th percentile, 2.04 mM) was associated with shortened gestation. Risks of total, early, and late preterm deliveries increased with mTG levels, and the high mTG–related risk was highest for early preterm delivery [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.72; 95% CI, 1.30 to 2.29]. After stratification by BMI, high mTG was associated with risk of preterm delivery in both overweight or obese (OWO) women (AOR 1.32; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.70) and women with normal BMI (AOR 1.36; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.59). In additional sensitivity analyses, we found that high mTG was related to higher risks of preterm delivery among OWO women and women with normal BMI (AOR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.07 to 2.22 and 1.62, 1.34 to 1.96, respectively), especially early preterm delivery (AOR 2.47; 95% CI, 1.19 to 5.10, and AOR 2.50; 95% CI, 1.65 to 3.78, respectively). Conclusions High mTG level during early pregnancy increased the risks of preterm delivery not only in OWO women but also in women with normal BMI.

The objective of the study was to explore the prevalence and characteristics of myocardial bridging in patients who underwent coronary angiography and to also evaluate the correlation between bridged coronary segments and atherosclerosis. For this purpose, clinical materials of 1,500 patients who had received coronary angiography were retrospectively analyzed. The location and length of the myocardial bridge were recorded as well as the extent and location of coronary artery stenosis was described. Segments proximal and distal to the bridging were evaluated for coronary arteriosclerosis as were the remaining coronary segments. We found that myocardial bridging was present in 179 (11.9 %) patients. Bridges were frequently (84.9 %) localized in the mid-distal segment of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. Myocardial bridging was not considered a significant risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis (odds ratio 0.58) compared with traditional cardiovascular risk factors. The incidence of coronary arteriosclerosis in the distal segments was significantly less affected than the proximal segments (P < 0.01). It was, therefore, concluded that myocardial bridging frequently localized in the mid-distal segment of the LAD artery. The presence of myocardial bridging promotes proximal atherosclerosis but it is not an additional risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis.

Purpose: To estimate whether the city-specific lockdown in Shanghai induced by the COVID-19 pandemic affected preterm birth rates among uninfected pregnant women in different trimesters.Methods: The population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted in the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital (IPMCH) in Shanghai, China. Pregnant women without COVID-19 received perinatal healthcare during lockdown (from January 24, 2020 to March 24, 2020) and non-lockdown (from January 24, 2019 to March 24, 2019) period and giving birth to a live infant at IPMCH were enrolled. 1:1 propensity score matching and Inverse probability of treatment weighting were used to evaluate preterm birth (&lt;37 weeks), very preterm birth (&lt;34 weeks), preterm birth with premature rupture of membranes (PROM-PTB), spontaneous preterm birth with intact membranes (S-PTB), and medically induced preterm birth (MI-PTB) between two groups.Results: 8,270 pregnant women were in the lockdown group, and 9,815 were in the non-lockdown group. Pregnant women in second trimester during lockdown had a higher risk of PTB than those during the non-lockdown period [OR: 1.43 (CI 1.01–2.02), ARD: 1.7% (CI 0.04–3.4%), p = 0.045]. Furthermore, pregnant women in third trimester during lockdown had a higher risk of PROM-PTB than those during the non-lockdown period [OR: 1.64 (CI 1.09–2.47), ARD: 0.9% (CI 0.2–1.6%), p = 0.02]; no group differences were found related to rates of VPTB, S-PTB or MI-PTB.Conclusion: In this cohort study in China, we found that there was an increased risk in preterm birth for non-infected women in COVID-19 lockdown who were in their second trimester.

Our results suggest a positive association between the severity of OSA and NAFLD defined by an elevated FLI, which may serve as a good biomarker for detecting NAFLD in OSA patients.