Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.

<h4>Background</h4>Over 5 million stillbirths and neonatal deaths occur annually. Limited and imprecise information on the cause of these deaths hampers progress in achieving global health targets. Complete diagnostic autopsies (CDAs)-the gold standard for cause of death determination-ar...

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Main Authors: Clara Menendez, Paola Castillo, Miguel J Martínez, Dercio Jordao, Lucilia Lovane, Mamudo R Ismail, Carla Carrilho, Cesaltina Lorenzoni, Fabiola Fernandes, Tacilta Nhampossa, Juan Carlos Hurtado, Mireia Navarro, Isaac Casas, Paula Santos Ritchie, Sonia Bandeira, Sibone Mocumbi, Zara Jaze, Flora Mabota, Khátia Munguambe, Maria Maixenchs, Ariadna Sanz, Inacio Mandomando, Alfons Nadal, Anna Goncé, Carmen Muñoz-Almagro, Llorenç Quintó, Jordi Vila, Eusebio Macete, Pedro Alonso, Jaume Ordi, Quique Bassat
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-06-01
Series:PLoS Medicine
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002318&type=printable
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author Clara Menendez
Paola Castillo
Miguel J Martínez
Dercio Jordao
Lucilia Lovane
Mamudo R Ismail
Carla Carrilho
Cesaltina Lorenzoni
Fabiola Fernandes
Tacilta Nhampossa
Juan Carlos Hurtado
Mireia Navarro
Isaac Casas
Paula Santos Ritchie
Sonia Bandeira
Sibone Mocumbi
Zara Jaze
Flora Mabota
Khátia Munguambe
Maria Maixenchs
Ariadna Sanz
Inacio Mandomando
Alfons Nadal
Anna Goncé
Carmen Muñoz-Almagro
Llorenç Quintó
Jordi Vila
Eusebio Macete
Pedro Alonso
Jaume Ordi
Quique Bassat
author_facet Clara Menendez
Paola Castillo
Miguel J Martínez
Dercio Jordao
Lucilia Lovane
Mamudo R Ismail
Carla Carrilho
Cesaltina Lorenzoni
Fabiola Fernandes
Tacilta Nhampossa
Juan Carlos Hurtado
Mireia Navarro
Isaac Casas
Paula Santos Ritchie
Sonia Bandeira
Sibone Mocumbi
Zara Jaze
Flora Mabota
Khátia Munguambe
Maria Maixenchs
Ariadna Sanz
Inacio Mandomando
Alfons Nadal
Anna Goncé
Carmen Muñoz-Almagro
Llorenç Quintó
Jordi Vila
Eusebio Macete
Pedro Alonso
Jaume Ordi
Quique Bassat
author_sort Clara Menendez
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Over 5 million stillbirths and neonatal deaths occur annually. Limited and imprecise information on the cause of these deaths hampers progress in achieving global health targets. Complete diagnostic autopsies (CDAs)-the gold standard for cause of death determination-are difficult to perform in most high-burden settings. Therefore, validation of simpler and more feasible methods is needed.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>In this observational study, the validity of a minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) method in determining the cause of death was assessed in 18 stillbirths and 41 neonatal deaths by comparing the results of the MIA with those of the CDA. Concordance between the categories of diseases obtained by the 2 methods was assessed by the Kappa statistic, and the sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values of the MIA diagnoses were calculated. A cause of death was identified in 16/18 (89%) and 15/18 (83%) stillborn babies in the CDA and the MIA, respectively. Fetal growth restriction accounted for 39%, infectious diseases for 22%, intrapartum hypoxia for 17%, and intrauterine hypoxia for 11% of stillborn babies. Overall, the MIA showed in this group a substantial concordance with the CDA (Kappa = 0.78, 95% CI [0.56-0.99]). A cause of death was identified in all (100%) and 35/41 (85%) neonatal deaths in the CDA and the MIA, respectively. In this group, the majority of deaths were due to infectious diseases (66%). The overall concordance of the MIA with the CDA in neonates was moderate (Kappa = 0.40, 95% CI [0.18-0.63]). A high percentage of accuracy was observed for the MIA in all the diagnostic categories in both stillbirths and neonates (>75%). The main limitation of this study is that some degree of subjective interpretation is inherent to cause-of-death attribution in both the MIA and the CDA; this is especially so in stillbirths and in relation to fetal growth restriction.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The MIA could be a useful tool for cause-of-death determination in stillbirths and neonatal deaths. These findings may help to accelerate progress towards meeting global health targets by obtaining more accurate information on the causes of death in these age groups, which is essential in guiding the design of new interventions and increasing the effectiveness of those already implemented.
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spelling doaj-art-9f007b9c609d4db7911382eb672dab552025-08-20T02:45:28ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Medicine1549-12771549-16762017-06-01146e100231810.1371/journal.pmed.1002318Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.Clara MenendezPaola CastilloMiguel J MartínezDercio JordaoLucilia LovaneMamudo R IsmailCarla CarrilhoCesaltina LorenzoniFabiola FernandesTacilta NhampossaJuan Carlos HurtadoMireia NavarroIsaac CasasPaula Santos RitchieSonia BandeiraSibone MocumbiZara JazeFlora MabotaKhátia MunguambeMaria MaixenchsAriadna SanzInacio MandomandoAlfons NadalAnna GoncéCarmen Muñoz-AlmagroLlorenç QuintóJordi VilaEusebio MacetePedro AlonsoJaume OrdiQuique Bassat<h4>Background</h4>Over 5 million stillbirths and neonatal deaths occur annually. Limited and imprecise information on the cause of these deaths hampers progress in achieving global health targets. Complete diagnostic autopsies (CDAs)-the gold standard for cause of death determination-are difficult to perform in most high-burden settings. Therefore, validation of simpler and more feasible methods is needed.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>In this observational study, the validity of a minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) method in determining the cause of death was assessed in 18 stillbirths and 41 neonatal deaths by comparing the results of the MIA with those of the CDA. Concordance between the categories of diseases obtained by the 2 methods was assessed by the Kappa statistic, and the sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values of the MIA diagnoses were calculated. A cause of death was identified in 16/18 (89%) and 15/18 (83%) stillborn babies in the CDA and the MIA, respectively. Fetal growth restriction accounted for 39%, infectious diseases for 22%, intrapartum hypoxia for 17%, and intrauterine hypoxia for 11% of stillborn babies. Overall, the MIA showed in this group a substantial concordance with the CDA (Kappa = 0.78, 95% CI [0.56-0.99]). A cause of death was identified in all (100%) and 35/41 (85%) neonatal deaths in the CDA and the MIA, respectively. In this group, the majority of deaths were due to infectious diseases (66%). The overall concordance of the MIA with the CDA in neonates was moderate (Kappa = 0.40, 95% CI [0.18-0.63]). A high percentage of accuracy was observed for the MIA in all the diagnostic categories in both stillbirths and neonates (>75%). The main limitation of this study is that some degree of subjective interpretation is inherent to cause-of-death attribution in both the MIA and the CDA; this is especially so in stillbirths and in relation to fetal growth restriction.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The MIA could be a useful tool for cause-of-death determination in stillbirths and neonatal deaths. These findings may help to accelerate progress towards meeting global health targets by obtaining more accurate information on the causes of death in these age groups, which is essential in guiding the design of new interventions and increasing the effectiveness of those already implemented.https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002318&type=printable
spellingShingle Clara Menendez
Paola Castillo
Miguel J Martínez
Dercio Jordao
Lucilia Lovane
Mamudo R Ismail
Carla Carrilho
Cesaltina Lorenzoni
Fabiola Fernandes
Tacilta Nhampossa
Juan Carlos Hurtado
Mireia Navarro
Isaac Casas
Paula Santos Ritchie
Sonia Bandeira
Sibone Mocumbi
Zara Jaze
Flora Mabota
Khátia Munguambe
Maria Maixenchs
Ariadna Sanz
Inacio Mandomando
Alfons Nadal
Anna Goncé
Carmen Muñoz-Almagro
Llorenç Quintó
Jordi Vila
Eusebio Macete
Pedro Alonso
Jaume Ordi
Quique Bassat
Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.
PLoS Medicine
title Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.
title_full Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.
title_fullStr Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.
title_full_unstemmed Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.
title_short Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.
title_sort validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in mozambique an observational study
url https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002318&type=printable
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