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Date: 09/02/2022 To: "Kelly B Zafman"
From: "The Green Journal" [email protected] Subject: Your Submission ONG-22-1245
RE: Manuscript Number ONG-22-1245
Adjustment of prenatal care practices during the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with an increased risk of undetected fetal growth restriction
Dear Dr. Zafman:
Thank you for sending us your work for consideration for publication in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Your manuscript has been reviewed by the Editorial Board and by special expert referees. The Editors would like to invite you to submit a revised version for further consideration.
If you wish to revise your manuscript, please read the following comments submitted by the reviewers and Editors. Each point raised requires a response, by either revising your manuscript or making a clear argument as to why no revision is needed in the cover letter.
To facilitate our review, we prefer that the cover letter you submit with your revised manuscript include each reviewer and Editor comment below, followed by your response. That is, a point-by-point response is required to each of the EDITOR COMMENTS (if applicable), REVIEWER COMMENTS, STATISTICAL EDITOR COMMENTS (if applicable), and EDITORIAL OFFICE COMMENTS below. Your manuscript will be returned to you if a point-by-point response to each of these sections is not included.
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Your submission will be maintained in active status for 21 days from the date of this letter. If we have not heard from you by Sep 23, 2022, we will assume you wish to withdraw the manuscript from further consideration.
EDITOR COMMENTS:
Thank you for submitting this work to Obstetrics & Gynecology. If you opt to submit a revision, please reformat as a research letter and format according to journal specifications. Although we recognize this submission type is limited by word count, we would like you to address the statistical editor's comment regarding the presentation of the converse (among those identified prenatally as FGR, compare the proportion of true and false positives for SGA).
REVIEWER COMMENTS:
Reviewer #1: Purpose of the Study: This is an IRB approved, retrospective cohort study evaluating the rate of undetected FGR in the COVID era vs. pre-COVID era. There is a clear objective, study population, and inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Power calculations are appropriately explained and met w/ overall n=268
At the conclusion of this study, the authors find that the detection of FGR was decreased in the COVID era secondary to changes in the structure of prenatal care.
Comments
Abstract: clear and well presented Introduction: clear and well presented Methods: clear and well presented Results:
Line 207-209: This study mentions that there is a high rate of HDP. Can you please include a comment in the discussion
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regarding how this affects generalizability of your results to the general population given that the national rates of HDP is approximately 19% (CDC data)?
Lines 233-235 If NICU admission rates for detection vs. undetected are not statistically different, in the discussion, can you tell us why this should matter? Is it possible to review data for stillbirths during this time and see if detection of FGR makes a difference for any clinically relevant outcome? This is mentioned in lines 285-290, was there an attempt at analyzing stillbirth? Small numbers may limit interpretation of these results, but would consider discussing.
Lines 237-247 If subanalysis shows in-person visits make more of a difference than an ultrasound for clinical risk factors, wouldn't the recommendation be to consider in-person appointments more than routine ultrasound as you recommend in the discussion?
Line 281: Please change "fewer total growth ultrasounds" to reflect Table 3 where it states the data presented is in mean Discussion:
Lines 319-331: the study mentions routine third trimester growth ultrasounds and self administered fundal heights but the results of this study demonstrate that the in-person OB visits are more closely associated with detection of FGR. I would add something to the discussion to acknowledge this.
A limitation of this study is also that the COVID group will encompass those w/ COVID infection in pregnancy. This may have driven up rates of FGR as FGR has been associated w/ COVID infection in pregnancy. Given that COVID infection in pregnancy was not an indication for a third trimester growth ultrasound (which SMFM recommends) please acknowledge that this may be a confounding factor that may limit the results.
Table 1: ACOG recommends Rhogam at 28 weeks, please include a statement to ensure the reader is aware that the 'duet timeline' is not adapted from ACOG recommendations re: timing of specifics of prenatal care
Table 2: Baseline characteristics
- Rate of hypertension is high compared to the baseline population, this is should be acknowledged
- The baseline characteristics should include things that may influence your outcome of interest. This study appropriately includes HTN and GDM, can you please include rates of pre-gestational DM as well?
Reviewer #2:
GENERAL COMMENTS: This was a retrospective cohort study at an urban tertiary care center testing whether changes in prenatal care practices during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the antenatal detection of FGR among neonates born SGA. Analyzing the effect of changes in obstetric care as a result of the COVID19 pandemic is important. However, there are several limitations outlined below that limit the usefulness of the data presented in this manuscript.
SPECIFIC COMMENTS:
1. Examining the impact of changes in obstetric care as a result of the COVID19 pandemic is important as it has implications of changes in obstetric care in general
2. The retrospective cohort design is appropriate for this question
3. The 2 periods are separated by a gap, August 2019 to April 2020. This should be explicitly explained
4.The primary outcome was the rate of undetected FGR, defined as a case where the diagnosis of FGR was not made sonographically prior to the delivery of an SGA neonate. However, it is the ultimate impact on pregnancy outcome rather than the detection per se which is important.
5. The sample size was fixed, but power analysis is considered based on the primary outcome of undetected FGR. However, this is based on a univariable analysis and does not take into account the ability to perform multivariable analysis that is required by the retrospective cohort design. As a result, the sample size of SGA neonates is rather modest, and the results are not informative for the important pregnancy outcomes
6. The absence of adjusted analysis is a major limitation. There are potential confounders such as obesity, co-morbidities etc that have to be accounted for.
7. Outcomes such as number of ultrasounds and number of prenatal visits should be presented as medians and interquartile ranges, not means, as fractions of these measures are not meaningful
8. The finding that earlier delivery occurred more frequently with prenatal detection of FGR without and apparent effect on neonatal outcomes is notable. Is it possible that the missed diagnosis were the milder cases of FGR?
9. Intrauterine fetal death is an important outcome that is not presented here
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10. False positives and false negatives are not considered 11. The STROBE checklist is not included
Reviewer #3: Thank you for submitting your interesting and very relevant work in the COVID era with emergence of telemedicine.
I have a few questions regarding your study sample.
1) How many were COVID positive? It was not mentioned specifically in your methods.
2) Your findings showed differences in detection of FGR, however the fetuses were less severely FGR than those antenatally diagnosed.
3) Downstream complications such as stillbirth or NICU admissions were not significantly different. Could you attribute this to the less severe FGR findings noted at delivery?
You can also make an argument in favor of your current protocol because you did not see any deleterious effects, despite a lower FGR detection rate.
4) FGR is a stand alone complication, but often is used as a marker for increased risk of worse outcomes such as stillbirth, NICU admission or other complications. You saw no such differences. Were there any differences in the rate of PEC
development in the undetected FGR patients?
5) Were patients weight and BP checked at home? Were these results relayed to the providers? Perhaps these findings could trigger ultrasound follow up in patients at risk of FGR.
The paper is concise, well written and sufficiently describes what most OB providers experienced. Depending on one's viewpoint, an argument can be made for or against your current protocol.
Increasing the detection rate of FGR would not seem to make a difference in fetal outcomes. As mentioned, a larger sample size may find statistically significant differences, but the difference in clinically significance may be small.
The study was already powered to demonstrate an increase in undetected FGR from 60% to 80%, yet there were no differences in NICU admission, stillbirth or APGARs. Perhaps this was due to the uncomplicated cohort being examined.
Furthermore, the birthweights in the undetected FGR patients were higher by 300g compared to the detected FGR, which may reduce the significance of undetected FGR.
Thank you for this thought provoking work.
STATISTICAL EDITOR COMMENTS:
lines 60-62, 187-195: The sample size calculation was based on an increase in rate of undetected FGR from 60% to 80%.
What was the basis for that difference? The actual difference in this study was 12%, which was statistically significant (in part because the samples were larger than used in the calculation), but was that difference clinically significant?
Table 2: Need units for BMI.
Table 3: For the variables that were counts, were the distributions normal? If not, then should format as median (range or IQR) and test non-parametrically.
Table 4: Many of the outcomes have small counts, so those NS comparisons have low stats power and cannot be generalized. Should be included among limitations.
General: This study examined a cohort of SGA infants to determine and compare the proportions identified prenatally as FGR before vs during the pandemic. It would also be informative to contrast that finding with its converse. That is, begin with all those identified prenatally as FGR and then compare the proportion of true and false positives for SGA during each time period.
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6 of 6 10/19/2022, 9:29 AM
EDITOR COMMENTS:
Thank you for submitting this work to Obstetrics & Gynecology. If you opt to submit a revision, please reformat as a research letter and format according to journal specifications. Although we recognize this submission type is limited by word count, we would like you to address the statistical editor's comment regarding the presentation of the converse (among those identified prenatally as FGR, compare the proportion of true and false positives for SGA).
Thank you very much for the opportunity to submit a research letter. As mentioned below, unfortunately we do not have access to those who were diagnosed with FGR antenatally but not born SGA. Our database only includes neonates born SGA.
REVIEWER COMMENTS:
Reviewer #1: Purpose of the Study: This is an IRB approved, retrospective cohort study evaluating the rate of undetected FGR in the COVID era vs. pre-COVID era.
There is a clear objective, study population, and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Power calculations are appropriately explained and met w/ overall n=268
At the conclusion of this study, the authors find that the detection of FGR was decreased in the COVID era secondary to changes in the structure of prenatal care.
Comments
Abstract: clear and well presented Introduction: clear and well presented Methods: clear and well presented Results:
Line 207-209: This study mentions that there is a high rate of HDP. Can you please include a comment in the discussion regarding how this affects generalizability of your results to the general population given that the national rates of HDP is
approximately 19% (CDC data)? Thank you for your comment. As this population included patients with SGA neonates, this was a higher risk group for
hypertensive disorders.
Lines 233-235 If NICU admission rates for detection vs. undetected are not
statistically different, in the discussion, can you tell us why this should matter? Is it
possible to review data for stillbirths during this time and see if detection of FGR
makes a difference for any clinically relevant outcome? This is mentioned in lines
285-290, was there an attempt at analyzing stillbirth? Small numbers may limit
interpretation of these results, but would consider discussing. This has been
addressed-thank you.
Lines 237-247 If subanalysis shows in-person visits make more of a difference than an ultrasound for clinical risk factors, wouldn't the recommendation be to consider in-person appointments more than routine ultrasound as you recommend in the discussion? While we do not have the word count capacity in the letter to discuss this, certainly there are benefits to telehealth to consider beyond COVID risk including improved access to care for patients. It does seem that telehealth is a lasting effect of the pandemic.
Line 281: Please change "fewer total growth ultrasounds" to reflect Table 3 where it states the data presented is in mean This has been changed.
Discussion:
Lines 319-331: the study mentions routine third trimester growth ultrasounds and self administered fundal heights but the results of this study demonstrate that the in-person OB visits are more closely associated with detection of FGR. I would add something to the discussion to acknowledge this. Thank you for this point; in the research letter we do not have capacity to address this.
A limitation of this study is also that the COVID group will encompass those w/
COVID infection in pregnancy. This may have driven up rates of FGR as FGR has been associated w/ COVID infection in pregnancy. Given that COVID infection in pregnancy was not an indication for a third trimester growth ultrasound (which SMFM recommends) please acknowledge that this may be a confounding factor that may limit the results. Thank you for this point; in the research letter we do not have capacity to address this. The rate of FGR, however, was not different between groups rather it was the rate of FGR detected that was different.
Table 1: ACOG recommends Rhogam at 28 weeks, please include a statement to ensure the reader is aware that the 'duet timeline' is not adapted from ACOG recommendations re: timing of specifics of prenatal care This has been removed.
Table 2: Baseline characteristics
- Rate of hypertension is high compared to the baseline population, this is should be acknowledged This reflects our patient population but we do not anticipate it would affect detection rates of FGR
- The baseline characteristics should include things that may influence your outcome of interest. This study appropriately includes HTN and GDM, can you please include rates of pre-gestational DM as well? We do not have this data unfortunately.
Reviewer #2:
GENERAL COMMENTS: This was a retrospective cohort study at an urban tertiary
care center testing whether changes in prenatal care practices during the COVID-19
pandemic impacted the antenatal detection of FGR among neonates born SGA.
Analyzing the effect of changes in obstetric care as a result of the COVID19
pandemic is important. However, there are several limitations outlined below that limit the usefulness of the data presented in this manuscript.
SPECIFIC COMMENTS:
1. Examining the impact of changes in obstetric care as a result of the COVID19 pandemic is important as it has implications of changes in obstetric care in general 2. The retrospective cohort design is appropriate for this question
3. The 2 periods are separated by a gap, August 2019 to April 2020. This should be explicitly explained We chose these time periods as the COVID-19 did not change our institution policies in a dependable way until April 2020. Guidelines were in flux during February and March.
4.The primary outcome was the rate of undetected FGR, defined as a case where the diagnosis of FGR was not made sonographically prior to the delivery of an SGA neonate. However, it is the ultimate impact on pregnancy outcome rather than the detection per se which is important. Prior studies have proven that the detection of FGR improves neonatal outcomes
5. The sample size was fixed, but power analysis is considered based on the primary outcome of undetected FGR. However, this is based on a univariable analysis and does not take into account the ability to perform multivariable analysis that is required by the retrospective cohort design. As a result, the sample size of SGA neonates is rather modest, and the results are not informative for the important pregnancy outcomes. This is correct-our sample size is a limitation. Many prior studies that are referenced have shown the impact of detected vs. undetected FGR on outcomes.
6. The absence of adjusted analysis is a major limitation. There are potential confounders such as obesity, co-morbidities etc that have to be accounted for. As these were not different between groups we did not feel adjustment would be helpful in the interpretation of results
7. Outcomes such as number of ultrasounds and number of prenatal visits should be presented as medians and interquartile ranges, not means, as fractions of these measures are not meaningful Our data are normally distributed
8. The finding that earlier delivery occurred more frequently with prenatal
detection of FGR without and apparent effect on neonatal outcomes is notable. Is it possible that the missed diagnosis were the milder cases of FGR? This is very possible and something that can be explored in the future
9. Intrauterine fetal death is an important outcome that is not presented here We
unfortunately do not have data on those with an IUFD as our database included live SGA neonates
10. False positives and false negatives are not considered We unfortunately do not have data on those patients who were detected to have FGR but then were not born SGR
11. The STROBE checklist is not included
Reviewer #3: Thank you for submitting your interesting and very relevant work in the COVID era with emergence of telemedicine.
I have a few questions regarding your study sample.
1) How many were COVID positive? It was not mentioned specifically in your
methods. Only 9 patients had a positive COVID test documented prior to delivery 2) Your findings showed differences in detection of FGR, however the fetuses were less severely FGR than those antenatally diagnosed.
3) Downstream complications such as stillbirth or NICU admissions were not
significantly different. Could you attribute this to the less severe FGR findings noted at delivery?
You can also make an argument in favor of your current protocol because you did not see any deleterious effects, despite a lower FGR detection rate. Yes and the small sample size as discussed below
4) FGR is a stand alone complication, but often is used as a marker for increased risk of worse outcomes such as stillbirth, NICU admission or other complications. You saw no such differences. Were there any differences in the rate of PEC
development in the undetected FGR patients? We unfortunately do not have this data but this is an interesting question
5) Were patients weight and BP checked at home? Were these results relayed to the providers? Perhaps these findings could trigger ultrasound follow up in patients at risk of FGR. Yes blood pressures and weight were checked at home.
The paper is concise, well written and sufficiently describes what most OB providers experienced. Depending on one's viewpoint, an argument can be made for or against your current protocol.
Increasing the detection rate of FGR would not seem to make a difference in fetal
outcomes. As mentioned, a larger sample size may find statistically significant differences, but the difference in clinically significance may be small.
The study was already powered to demonstrate an increase in undetected FGR from 60% to 80%, yet there were no differences in NICU admission, stillbirth or APGARs.
Perhaps this was due to the uncomplicated cohort being examined. Yes and likely due to a small sample size
Furthermore, the birthweights in the undetected FGR patients were higher by 300g compared to the detected FGR, which may reduce the significance of undetected FGR.
Thank you for this thought provoking work.
STATISTICAL EDITOR COMMENTS:
lines 60-62, 187-195: The sample size calculation was based on an increase in rate of undetected FGR from 60% to 80%. What was the basis for that difference? The actual difference in this study was 12%, which was statistically significant (in part because the samples were larger than used in the calculation), but was that
difference clinically significant? While it is difficult to ascertain, we do believe that an increased detection rate is clinically meaningful
Table 2: Need units for BMI. Thank you this has been changed
Table 3: For the variables that were counts, were the distributions normal? If not, then should format as median (range or IQR) and test non-parametrically. Yes these are normally distributed
Table 4: Many of the outcomes have small counts, so those NS comparisons have low stats power and cannot be generalized. Should be included among limitations.
Thank you-while we do not have the space to address this in the research letter, this is certainly a limitation.
General: This study examined a cohort of SGA infants to determine and compare the proportions identified prenatally as FGR before vs during the pandemic. It would also be informative to contrast that finding with its converse. That is, begin with all those identified prenatally as FGR and then compare the proportion of true and false positives for SGA during each time period. Thank you very much for your
comments-this would be very interesting. Unfortunately we do not have this
data. Our database only includes patients who were born SGA and we do not
have those that were FGR but not born SGA.
