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Biomedical subjects

M Vessey

Publications and source records attributed to M Vessey.

89 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Vaginal spermicides and outcome of pregnancy: findings in a large cohort study.

By the end of 1980, 5729 singleton planned pregnancies, 1552 singleton unplanned pregnancies, and 81 multiple pregnancies had been observed among the 17032 participants in the Oxford-Family Planning Association contraceptive study. The outcome of these pregnancies was investigated in relation to the use of vaginal spermicides. There was some suggestion that spermicide use might have a small adverse effect on the risk of congenital malformations, especially among infants conceived as a result of contraceptive failure. There was not, however, any evidence of any other adverse effect of spermicide use. In particular, the results provide strong evidence against the hypothesis that spermicide use has any appreciable effect on the risk of spontaneous abortion.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗

Outcome of pregnancy in women using different methods of contraception.

During the years 1968-74, 17,032 women were recruited to the Oxford Family Planning Association prospective study of the effects of different methods of contraception. The present analysis, which concerns 5700 pregnancies experienced by the participants in the investigation, adds to the evidence that ex-users of oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices suffer no delecterious effects on the outcome of pregnancy in terms of miscarriage, ectopic gestation, stillbirth, congenital malformation, alteration in the sex ratio or reduction in birth weight. Accidental pregnancies in women taking oral contraceptives were few in the present study (66 in all), but it seems likely that harmful effects of exposure of the fetus to the pill in utero, if any, occur infrequently. Women experiencing an accidental pregnancy with an intrauterine device in situ are at a markedly increased risk of miscarriage and ectopic gestation and are more likely to give birth to an underweight infant than other women.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗

A randomized double-blind trial of two low dose combined oral contraceptives.

Fifty-five women using Loestrin-20 (20 microgram ethinyl oestradiol and 1 mg norethisterone acetate) as an oral contraceptive have been compared with a like number using Microgynon-30 (30 microgram ethinyl oestradiol and 150 microgram levonorgestrel) in a randomized, double-blind trial. Despite the small sample size, the main finding in the trial is clear-cut; Loestrin-20 provides poor cycle control and is thus less acceptable as an oral contraceptive than Microgynon-30. Although there is also a suggestion that Loestrin-20 may be less effective than Microgynon-30, the difference in the accidental pregnancy rates is not statistically significant.

Adolescent↗

A randomized comparative trial of the performance of the Ayre and the Armovical cervical spatulae.

The Ayre and the Armovical cervical spatulae were compared in a randomized trial involving 982 women of childbearing age. It was found that the Armovical spatula was slightly less effective than the Ayre spatula in obtaining adequate numbers of squamous cells. The Armovical spatula was, however, far better at providing a sample of endocervical or metaplastic cells and, as a result, yielded a substantially higher proportion of 'satisfactory' smears (54 per cent as against 39 per cent). Red blood cells were more often present in smears taken with the Armovical spatula than with the Ayre spatula. Although the data in the present study were too few to prove that the Armovical spatula is better than the Ayre spatula at detecting cellular abnormalities, it seems likely that this is so.

Adolescent↗