We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.
Screening and evaluation of hepatitis C virus infection in pregnant women on opioid maintenance therapy: A retrospective cohort study
Elizabeth E. Krans , Susan L. Zickmund , Vinod K. Rustgi , Seo Young Park , Shannon L. Dunn , Eleanor B. Schwarz
Substance Abuse
Vol. 37, Iss. 1, 2016
This large study of prenatal screening and evaluation of HCV infection at a leading academic medical center found many missed opportunities to identify and evaluate women with opioid use disorders for HCV infection during pregnancy. Our results indicate that one-third of patients receive the diagnosis of HCV for the first time during pregnancy, emphasizing the importance of pregnancy as a critical period for HCV evaluation. However, prenatal care approaches to HCV infection remain inconsistent and the majority of patients diagnosed with HCV infection during pregnancy do not receive treatment after delivery. Future research should be devoted to efforts to improve care coordination and inter-provider dialogue among substance abuse treatment providers, prenatal care providers and hepatologists to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of screening for common medical co-morbidities such as HCV infection as well as to the development of interventions designed to increase the number of patients enrolled in HCV treatment following delivery. As a new era in HCV treatment unfolds, prenatal care clinical recommendations and practice patterns must keep pace.
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Our newly released issue is now online —> January-March 2016.
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