Transvaginal access heralds the end of standard diagnostic laparoscopy in infertility.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Gordts.
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A IVF twin pregnancy in a patient who had previously undergone a myomectomy ended in a intrauterine infection, placental abruption and fetal losses at 21 weeks. Intrauterine Candidiasis may have played a role in the pathogenesis of the unsuccessful outcome.
The role of transvaginal pulsed colour Doppler ultrasound in the assessment of ovarian vascularity was studied in 196 in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. The changes in ovarian blood flow after gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) down-regulation and human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) stimulation were determined. The data obtained showed that the ovarian blood flow was significantly improved by oestradiol secretion (P = 0.05) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) administration (P = 0.003). Folliculogenesis was affected by blood flow supply. The resistance index (RI) value was significantly different (P = 0.05) according to the duration of ovarian stimulation. Patients with a mean RI value >0.56 had a longer stimulation with a significantly lower mean number of oocytes retrieved (P = 0.01) despite the administration of a standard dose of HMG. The RI value is a good indicator of modifications in ovarian vascularization during stimulation. Doppler blood flow measurement could be used to determine the optimal timing for the beginning of HMG administration in patients undergoing ovarian stimulation after down-regulation for IVF treatment.
OBJECTIVE: To describe a rare case of unilateral hydrothorax occurrence after ovarian stimulation for IVF. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: A university hospital. PATIENT(S): A 39-year-old female suffering from primary infertility due to a severe male factor. INTERVENTION(S): Thoracocentesis with IV albumin administration for correction of a concomitant hypoalbuminemia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Laboratory values of hematologic measures and electrolytes, screening of the thoracic fluid aspirated for viral and bacterial infections, resolution of pleural effusion after the second thoracocentesis as determined by chest roentgenogram. RESULT(S): Treatment of this manifestation of the ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) by thoracocentesis with albumin perfusion. CONCLUSION(S): This report describes a very rare case of thoracic complication after ovarian stimulation. It demonstrates that pleural effusion may be the only manifestation of the OHSS and implies a careful management of patients with pulmonary complaints after treatment with exogenous gonadotropins.
OBJECTIVES: To describe a rare case of triplet cornual pregnancy after IVF-ET and to assess the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for early diagnosis. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Infertility and IVF Unit, in an university medical center. PATIENT: A 31-year-old healthy patient with a 3-year history of primary male infertility. INTERVENTION: Standard IVF-ET treatment cycle, using a GnRH-agonist (long protocol) and hMG for ovarian stimulation. RESULTS: A cornual triplet pregnancy is described with the approach for the diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging was complementary to endovaginal sonography for early diagnosis and permitted a timed conservative management. CONCLUSIONS: When transvaginal ultrasound findings did not provide an accurate location of the pregnancy, MRI was indicated to confirm the diagnosis.
The changes in uterine artery blood flow in women undergoing in-vitro fertilization cycles were studied throughout stimulation after gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) desensitization. The data obtained showed that the uterine vascularity was related to hormonal changes. The GnRH agonist effect was seen only after the third week of administration, and the uterine perfusion was significantly (P = 0.002) improved by the oestradiol secretion. Human chorionic gonadotrophins increased the resistance index (RI) significantly (P = 0.0001) for a period of 48 h. Then the progesterone secretion modified the curve with a significant improvement in the uterine blood flow (P = 0.03). Comparison of the RI value 2 days before human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) commencement, in patients with and without pregnancy, showed a higher RI in patients who did not conceive but no difference was observed on the day of embryo transfer. The pregnancy rates were similar whatever the range of the RI observed. The data available so far suggest that haemodynamic parameters alone, detected by Doppler sonography, do not provide full information on endometrial receptivity on the day of embryo transfer. A resistance index > 0.79 before HMG commencement seems to indicate poor uterine vascularity and may necessitate an increase in the HMG doses to prevent endometrial immaturity.
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Seventy-seven couples in whom conventional in-vitro fertilization (IVF) had remained unsuccessful because of low fertilization rate and abnormal sperm characteristics were given either testosterone undecanoate 120 mg/day, or placebo during 3 months, after which a new IVF treatment was applied under identical technical conditions. There were no significant changes in sperm characteristics among the treated and placebo couples and the fertilization rate showed a similar increase after treatment in both groups. No significant difference in pregnancies occurred, with 32% pregnancies in the placebo controls and 17% among couples treated with testosterone undecanoate. It is concluded that testosterone undecanoate intake does not improve sperm characteristics, or the in-vitro fertilizing potential, or pregnancy rate over those observed in the placebo controls in cases with primary idiopathic testicular failure.
Micromanipulation of mouse gametes with a commercially available compact laser microbeam system was studied. Both the normal in-vitro fertilization (IVF) group and the laser zona dissection (LZD) group were tested under normal (2 x 10(6) motile spermatozoa/ml) and low (500,000 motile spermatozoa/ml) insemination conditions. Subzonal insemination (SUZI) was also tried in a small group of gametes and the results were compared with those of the low insemination groups. Fertilization rates and blastocyst formation rates for the IVF and the LZD-treated groups were respectively 53 and 60% and 60 and 78%, which were not significantly different. However, under low insemination conditions, the results were significantly better in the LZD-treated group (58% fertilization rate and 83% blastocyst formation rate) compared to the results of the IVF group (33 and 48%) (P < 0.05). The SUZI-treated group showed the lowest fertilization rate (18%). No significant difference between the LZD and the IVF group was observed with respect to parthenogenetic activation. LZD has a beneficial effect on fertilization rates in cases of reduced sperm quality.
Donor insemination was performed in two fertility clinics using cryopreserved semen from the same sperm bank. Donors were selected in agreement with American Fertility Society recommendations. In the first clinic, cup insemination was combined with intra-uterine insemination in 321 cycles. Follicular development was closely monitored with vaginal echography and serum hormonal measurements. In the second clinic, 1287 insemination cycles were performed using intra-cervical insemination, timed only on basal body temperature. In the first clinic, a total of 53 pregnancies were obtained, of which seven were in 55 unstimulated cycles (12.5%), 21 in 159 cycles with clomiphene citrate stimulation (13.1%, P > 0.1), and 25 in 107 cycles stimulated with clomiphene plus human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) (23.9%, P < 0.03). No multiple pregnancies were observed in the latter group. In the second clinic, 159 pregnancies occurred during 1287 insemination cycles (12.4%). It is concluded that neither intra-uterine insemination, nor hormonal and echographic cycle monitoring, nor clomiphene citrate enhances the success rate of artificial insemination with donor semen, but HMG treatment probably exerts a favourable effect.
We have developed a heminested PCR (polymerase chain reaction) method, performed on single cells, for the analysis of the most common cystic fibrosis (CF) mutation (delta F508). As a quality control, the polymorphic exon 2 of the HLA DQA1 locus was co-amplified from the same cell. With a non-radioactive reverse dot-blot assay, the genotype of these two loci could be determined. Experiments on 98 single fibroblasts, heterozygous for the CFTR and the DQA1 locus, showed that amplification of either locus could be obtained in 97 per cent of the cases, but only 90 per cent showed heterozygosity for CF, 75 per cent showed heterozygosity for DQA1, and 74 per cent showed heterozygosity for both CF and DQA1. Contaminations detected only after DQA1 typing occurred in 3 per cent of our samples. Error rate calculations based on our experimental PCR data indicate that single blastomere diagnosis would lead to unacceptable errors, i.e., an affected fetus, in less than 1 per cent of the cases. The risk of undetected crossing-over or the dubious results that crossing-over could generate, would make isolated polar body diagnosis at the present time very difficult. The combined approach of PCR on polar bodies followed by confirmation of the diagnosis on blastomeres, however, should give a solid base for preimplantation diagnosis of monogenic disorders.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate in a prospective randomized study the outcome of subzonal insemination (SUZI) in patients with male subfertility. DESIGN: In a period of 7 months, 48 patients underwent IVF treatment for male subfertility reasons. Normal insemination and SUZI were performed on sibling oocytes. Patients were divided into three groups depending on the sperm morphology (strict criteria): group 1, 10% to 14%; group 2, 5% to 10%; group 3, 0% to 5%. SETTING: Private fertility center in Leuven, Belgium. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The fertilization rates, cleavage rates, implantation rates, and pregnancy rates between the normally inseminated and the SUZI-treated group were compared. RESULTS: The fertilization rate with SUZI was significantly higher (32%) than after normal insemination (7%). The difference was striking in groups 2 and 3 (35% and 33% versus 11% and 4%). CONCLUSION: This study indicates that SUZI increases the fertility outcome in patients with male subfertility and that there is a marked difference in fertilization rate when morphology, using strict criteria, is < 10%.
Mitochondrial distribution pattern after ultrarapid freezing in dimethylsulphoxide was assessed in human multipronucleate zygotes, 2-cell and 4-cell stage embryos using rhodamine 123. The mitochondrial distribution pattern was evaluated at 37 degrees C after a 30 min incubation in rhodamine 123 solution, 4 h and 24 h after thawing. Non-frozen human unfertilized oocytes, 2-cell and 4-cell embryos used as a control showed a homogeneous distribution of mitochondria throughout the cytoplasm, while there was sequestration of mitochondria from the cortex to the region surrounding the pronuclei in multipronucleate zygotes. Morphologically intact multipronucleate zygotes, 2-cell and 4-cell stage embryos after quick freeze-thawing showed the same mitochondrial distribution pattern found in the unfrozen controls. Mitochondria exhibited a typical severe aggregation (clumping) throughout the cytoplasm when non-viable single blastomeres or embryos at thawing were exposed to rhodamine 123. Our study indicates that quick freezing does not affect subcellular structures. The well-organized and specific mitochondrial distribution appeared still to be present after frozen storage, and subcellular structures seemed to be rather resistant targets for cryo-injury.
The multicentric study regroups 128 cases of the ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and 256 selected controls. Values of serum oestradiol obtained from different laboratories were found to be normally distributed after logarithmic transformation. Comparative study of clinical and biological characteristics indicates that among OHSS patients (i) mean age was lower; (ii) tubal indications for IVF were less frequent; (iii) polycystic ovary-like conditions (i.e. hyperandrogenism, anovulation, luteinizing hormone/follicle stimulating hormone ratio > 2) were more frequent. OHSS patients displayed ovarian hypersensitivity reflected by higher oestradiol peak concentrations in response to lower dosage of human menopausal gonadotrophin and by a steeper slope of oestradiol increment during stimulation. In these patients, the collection of greater numbers of fertilizable oocytes allowed replacement of more embryos with a good vitality score. Ongoing pregnancy rate was found to be higher among the OHSS patients. The following complications were recorded among OHSS cases: abdominal fluid at echographic examination or clinical ascites (86.7 and 71.1%, respectively); pleural and pericardial effusion (21 and 3%, respectively); haemoconcentration (71.1%); electrolytic disorders (6.2%). Although significantly different between groups, clinical and biological parameters under study showed considerable overlap of their distributions in control and OHSS cases. Therefore, these data must be submitted to discriminant analysis in order to derive a formula predictive of the risk of OHSS.
The considerable overlap of distributions of values for different parameters between control and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) populations makes any single variable inefficient for risk prediction. Combinations of variables were studied in a discriminant function in order to increase predictivity and decrease the false negative rate. Such analyses were performed on two groups of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) patients: all OHSS cases (n = 128) (group A) and only severe OHSS cases (n = 92) (group B). Progressive introduction and automated stepwise selection of variables were applied to both groups. The best prediction (78.5%) was obtained in group A under post-oocyte retrieval conditions using log oestradiol, slope of log oestradiol increment, human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) dosage, number of oocytes retrieved and ratio of luteinizing hormone/follicle stimulating hormone (LH/FSH), in the formula. The corresponding false negative rate was 18.1%. However, effective prevention of OHSS implies the ability to withhold human chorionic gonadotrophin injection. Therefore a formula for pre-oocyte retrieval conditions was established yielding a prediction rate of 76.1% with a false negative rate of 18.1%. To be validated, such formulae have to be applied to another population of IVF cases used as a 'testing-set'.
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