Pregnant women have a higher risk of developing the yeast infection vaginal candidiasis due to an increased secretion of sex hormones; in the US, around 10% of pregnant women develop the condition.

Although intravaginal formulations of topical azole antifungals are the first-line treatment for pregnant women, oral fluconazole is often used.

However, there is a lack of safety information for the drug; in addition, previous studies have suggested evidence of a distinct pattern of craniofacial and skeletal birth defects in babies born to women treated long term with high-dose fluconazole during pregnancy.

Ditte Mølgaard-Nielsen, of the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues evaluated the association between oral fluconazole exposure during pregnancy and the risk of spontaneous abortion and stillbirth.

In a nationwide cohort study, the team studied 1,405,663 pregnancies from 1997-2013 in Denmark.

Published in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, the updated guidelines are a result of a collaboration between the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) Heart Failure and Transplantation, Pediatric and Infectious Disease Councils.

Chaired by Dr. Mandeep R. Mehra, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and medical director of the Heart and Vascular Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital - both in Boston, MA - the revised guidelines for heart transplantation candidacy address some of the issues that have arisen since such guidelines were first put in place in 2006.

One key issue has been heart transplantation eligibility for patients with certain medical conditions; the 2006 guidelines stated that patients with particular illnesses should not be considered for the procedure.