Search

Summary The live birth rate following embryo transfer is comparable between spontaneous, stimulated and artificial cycles. However, the pregnancy loss rate appears elevated with hormonal therapy, possibly due to luteal insufficiency. This study aimed to determine whether the serum progesterone level on transfer day differed according to the endometrial preparation method for frozen embryo transfer (FET). Twenty spontaneous cycles (SC), 27 ovarian stimulation cycles (OS) and 65 artificial cycles (AC) were retrospectively studied from May to December 2019 in a single French hospital. The primary endpoint was the level of serum progesterone on the day of FET between the three endometrial preparation methods. The mean serum progesterone level on transfer day was 29.47 ng/ml in the OS group versus 20.03 ng/ml in the SC group and 14.32 ng/ml AC group (P < 0.0001). Progesterone levels remained significantly different after logistic regression on age and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level. There was no significant difference in demographic and hormone characteristics (age, body mass index, embryo stage of embryo, type of infertility, basal follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol and AMH levels), endometrial thickness, number and type of embryos transferred, duration of infertility, pregnancy rate, live birth rate and pregnancy loss rate. No difference was found in serum progesterone levels between clinical pregnancy with fetal heartbeat and no clinical pregnancy (no pregnancy or pregnancy loss, 17.49 ng/ml vs 20.83 ng/ml, respectively, P = 0.07). The lower serum progesterone level found on FET day in the AC group should be further investigated to see whether this difference has a clinical effect on the live birth rate.

Background: Live birth rate following embryo transfer is comparable between natural cycle and hormonal therapy. However, pregnancy loss rate appears elevated with hormonal therapy, possibly due to luteal insufficiency, characterised by a low level of serum progesterone in the luteal phase. The primary objective of this study, was to determine whether serum progesterone level on transfer day differed according to endometrial preparation method in patients undergoing frozen embryo transfer (FET). Secondary objectives were to compare the clinical pregnancy with foetal heartbeat rate and pregnancy loss rate according to endometrial preparation method and to compare the level of serum progesterone on the transfer day between pregnancy loss and pregnancy with foetal heartbeat.Methods: Forty-seven natural/stimulated cycles and 68 artificial cycle FET were retrospectively studied from May to December 2019 from a single French hospital. The primary endpoint was the level of serum progesterone on the day of FET. The type of infertility, aetiology, serum basal FSH, LH, oestradiol and AMH dosage, endometrial thickness, clinical pregnancy rate, pregnancy loss rate, and maternal and embryo characteristics were compared between natural/stimulated cycle (OS group) and artificial cycle (AC group). Results: Mean serum progesterone level on embryo transfer day was 25.47 ng/mL in the OS group versus 14.32 ng/mL AC group (p Conclusions: Serum progesterone level on FET day is lower with endometrial preparation with artificial cycle than with a natural/stimulated cycle. Further research is necessary to determine if this difference has any relation with higher pregnancy loss rate with artificial cycle.

Background Surgically retrieved sperm samples and Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection are indicated when we face severe sperm abnormalities such as azoospermia. The objective of this study was to assess the rates of clinical pregnancies and live births with sperm from testicular biopsies. Design This was a retrospective descriptive study of all Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) cycles performed with surgically retrieved sperm at the Nimes University Hospital from January 1st, 2015 to December 31st, 2018. The main outcome was the clinical pregnancy rate. The secondary outcomes were the fertilization rate, the implantation rate and the live birth rate. Results In all, 99 couples were treated at our center during this period and 164 ICSI cycles using surgically-collected sperm were performed. The men were 34.7 ± 7.4 years old on average at the time of undergoing testicular biopsy and the women were 32.15 ± 5.07 years at the time of ICSI. Out of 127 fresh embryo transfers, we observed 47 clinical pregnancies (37 %) and 45 live births (35.4 %). The average fertilization rate was 45 % and the implantation rate was 23.7 %. Among these infertile couples, 53 % obtained at least one clinical pregnancy and 42 % at least one live birth. Conclusion Testicular sperm extraction combined with ICSI is indicated in cases of male infertility linked with azoospermia or severe semen alteration. This technique offers couples a marvelous opportunity to have children with their own gametes.

Cervical agenesis is a rare congenital pathology linked to an anomaly of development of the Mullerian system. We described a case report about a 22-year old woman, consulting for infertility, who had a complete cervical agenesis. The first evaluation suggested a 46 XX karyotype and a normal ovarian reserve. The surgical examination confirmed the absence of cervix with impossibility of catheterization. She became pregnant thanks to an in vitro fertilization (IVF) with transmyometrial embryo transfer. Caesarean was decided at 36 weeks of gestation (WG) due to spontaneous uterine contractions. An injection of medroxyprogesterone was made after the placenta delivery in order to warning the partum hemorrhage. The ultrasound examination, realized 15 days after caesarean, underlined a good uterine involution. The surgery by cervico-vaginal anastomosis can be offered to patients because it offers chances of spontaneous pregnancies. But this surgery exposes women to a risk of failure, and of severe complications such as pain or infection, and might end in a hysterectomy. By choosing the transmyometrial transfer by vaginal way, the patient was exposed to the risk of spontaneous miscarriage. It was raising the problem of the uterine evacuation. This delivery after 34 WG is encouraging for the infertility by cervical agenesis.

The prospective evaluation of the effect of thromboprophylaxis in women with one unexplained pregnancy loss from the 10th week of amenorrhea was performed. A total of 160 patients with heterozygous factor V Leiden mutation, prothrombin G20210A mutation, or protein S deficiency were given 5 mg folic acid daily before conception, to be continued during pregnancy, and low-dose aspirin 100 mg daily or low-molecular-weight heparin enoxaparin 40 mg was taken from the 8th week. Twenty-three of the 80 patients treated with low-dose aspirin and 69 of the 80 patients treated with enoxaparin had a healthy live birth (odds ratio [OR], 15.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7-34, P < .0001). Enoxaparin was superior to low-dose aspirin in each subgroup defined according to the underlying constitutional thrombophilic disorder. An associated protein Z deficiency and/or positive antiprotein Z antibodies were associated with poorer outcomes. The neonate weight was higher in the women successfully treated with enoxaparin, and neonates small for gestational age were more frequent in patients treated with low-dose aspirin. No significant side effects of the treatments could be evidenced in patients or newborns. As there is no argument to prove that low-dose aspirin may have been deleterious, these results support enoxaparin use during such at-risk pregnancies.

Maternal hypercoagulability is a possible cause of miscarriage during the eighth and ninth weeks of pregnancy, when the placenta replaces the yolk sac. We thus examined associations between putative markers of an acquired hypercoagulable state and the risk of first miscarriage. We conducted a case-control study comparing 743 women who miscarried in weeks 8 and 9 with 743 women who underwent a first provoked abortion, matched for age, number of pregnancies, and time elapsed since abortion. Levels of plasma homocysteine and of various antiphospholipid/antiprotein and hemostasis-related autoantibodies were categorized in 4 strata (percentiles 1-80, 81-95, 96-99, 100 among control patients) and analyzed in conditional logistic regression models. Pregnancy loss was independently associated with positive lupus anticoagulant (matched odds ratio [OR], 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-6.0), high levels of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against cardiolipin (OR for percentile 100 versus 0-80, 3.5; CI, 1.2-10.1) and against phosphatidylethanolamine (OR, 4.7; CI, 1.9-12.1), high levels of IgG antibodies against annexin V (OR, 3.2; CI, 1.1-9.1) and against tissue-type plasminogen activator (OR, 19.5; CI, 7.9-48.0), and high homocystinemia (OR, 4.1; CI, 1.3-12.5). A first early pregnancy loss is associated with increased levels of several autoantibodies and of homocysteine. (Blood. 2003;102:3504-3513)

SummaryVarious antiphospholipid and/or antiprotein antibodies have been suspected to be associated with recurrent early foetal loss in absence of any habitual aetiology. We conducted a hospital-based case control study on women with no antecedent of thromboembolic or autoimmune disease. We studied 3 groups of 518 women: patients with unexplained primary recurrent early foetal loss, patients with explained episodes and mothers with no previous obstetrical accident. Matching the 3 groups was carried out on the basis of age, number or pregnancies and time elapsed since the end of the last pregnancy. Significant biological markers were then prospectively tested.The various antibodies were shown to be dependent on parity and on the presence of previous foetal loss: cut-off values were thus calculated using data obtained from the group of explained accidents, and adjusted for parity. Only anti-phosphatidylethanolamine IgM [odds ratio: 6.0, 95% confidence interval (2.3–15.7), p = 0.0003], anti-β2-glycoprotein I IgG [4.4, (1.6–11.7), p = 0.0035] anti-annexin V IgG antibodies [3.2 (1.2–8.1), p = 0.015] and lupus anticoagulant [3.0, (1.3–6.8), p = 0.009], were found to be independent retrospective risk factors for unexplained early foetal loss. These four markers were subsequently found to be, during the following pregnancy, associated with a significant risk of foetal loss despite a low-dose aspirin treatment.In non-thrombotic, non-auto-immune women with unexplained primary reccurent early foetal loss, subgroups of patients with positive anti-phosphatidylethanolamine IgM antibodies, or positive anti- β2-glycoprotein-I IgG antibodies, or positive anti-annexin V IgG anti-bodies or lupus anticoagulant must be particularised. This should allow therapeutic trials to be carried in well-defined patients.

SummaryThe prevalence of haemostasis abnormalities was evaluated in 500 consecutive women with unexplained primary recurrent miscarriages. Two matched reference groups with no antecedent of miscarriage were studied: 100 healthy mothers and 50 childless women.In the prospective part of the study, we found 9.4% of the patients (95% C.I.: 6.8-12%) with an isolated factor XII deficiency, 7.4% of the patients (5.0-9.8%) with primary antiphopholipid antibodies, 47% of the patients (42.6-51.4%) with an insufficient response to the venous occlusion test and an isolated hypofibri- nolysis was found in 42.6% (38.2-47%) of the patients (reference groups: respectively 0/150, 3/150, 2/150, 2/150, pclO’3). Willebrand disease, fibrinogen deficiency, antithrombin, protein C or protein S deficiencies were not more frequent in recurrent aborters than in members of the reference groups. In the retrospective part of the study, cases of plasma resistance to activated protein C were not abnormally frequent.Patients had higher Willebrand factor antigen (vWF), tissue-type plasminogen activator antigen (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor activity (PAI) and D-dimers (D-Di) than the reference women. Values of vWF, t-PA, PAI and D-Di were altogether correlated but were not related to C-reactive protein concentrations. Among patients, those with an antiphospholipid syndrome and those with an insufficient response to the venous occlusion test had higher vWF, t-PA, PAI and D-Di values than the patients with none of the haemostasis-related abnormalities.Thus, factor XII deficiency and hypofibrinolysis (mainly high PAI) are the most frequent haemostasis-related abnormalities found in unexplained primary recurrent aborters. In patients with antiphospholipid antibodies or hypofibrinolysis, there is a non-inflammatory ongoing chronic elevation of markers of endothelial stimulation associated with coagulation activation. This should allow to define subgroups of patients for future therapeutic trials.

Objective To report a severe complication after colorectal resection for rectovaginal endometriosis. Design Case report. Setting University hospital. Patient(s) A 37-year-old patient treated with colorectal resection 3 years ago for rectovaginal endometriosis was admitted with a rectal perforation at 37 weeks' gestation. Intervention(s) Caesarean section and simple interrupted stitch of the perforation by absorbable Vicryl. Main Outcome Measure(s) Determination of the cause of the perforation in healthy rectal tissue above the anastomosis. Result(s) The most likely mechanism was secondary colonic hyperpressure owing to stenosis of the colorectal anastomosis. Conclusion(s) Young patients planning to conceive but scheduled to undergo colorectal resection should be made aware of the significant complication rate associated with this procedure and the promising results of nodule excisions. We recommend close monitoring of patients suffering from chronic constipation after resection for rectosigmoid endometriosis.

Summary Background: Women with familial thrombophilia have an increased risk of still birth. We postulated that the presence of asymptomatic risk factors for venous thrombosis might be a risk factor for late foetal loss. Methods: We performed a case-control study on the prevalence of heritable thrombophilic defects, of antiphospholipid-related markers and of the C677T mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene in patients with at least one episode of late unexplained foetal loss and in control women with successful pregnancies. Partners of cases and controls were also studied. Written conclusions of the pathological examination of the placentas, when available, were also reviewed. Results: We found at least one positive biological risk factor for venous thrombosis in 21.1% of the patients and in 3.9% of the controls (p

SummaryAn impaired fibrinolytic capacity, defined as an insufficient venous occlusion-induced shortening of the plasma euglobulin clot lysis time, is a common feature in women suffering from primary early recurrent unexplained miscarriages (1,2). We investigated the therapeutic effect of a low-molecular-weight heparin and of a phenformin-like substance.In a prospective, randomized trial, 30 consecutive patients initially received either enoxaparin, 20 mg per day during one month, or moroxydine chloride, 1200 mg per day during one month. In case of fibrinolytic status normalization, they were treated during 6 months by the beneficial treatment which was planned to be continued during eventual pregnancies. Patients with hypofibrinolysis persistence received the alternative treatment during another month and a new evaluation was performed. No treatment was given when a persistent abnormal response to the venous occlusion test was evidenced. In case of positive response, the treatment was continued during 6 months. The primary study end-points consisted of any of the following: effect of the treatments on the fibrinolytic response; number of patients becoming pregnant during the 6 months following the last venous occlusion test; number of full-term pregnancies.Concerning the effects on the fibrinolytic system, 20 out of 29 women responded to the first or second-line enoxaparin treatment whereas only 1 woman out of 19 responded to moroxydine chloride (p=0.00002). Concerning the effects on fertility, responders to LMWH were more likely to initiate a new pregnancy than non-responders (16/20 vs 2/10, p=0.002). In patients conceiving, LMWH responders were more likely to obtain live births than nonresponders (13/16 vs. 0/2, p=0.02). The 9 women who had not responded to both treatments and the one who had responded to moroxydine chloride are still childless. Thirteen of the 20 previously childless women who had responded to enoxaparin had a successful pregnancy whilst taking the low-molecular weight heparin (p=0.0009).The low-molecular weight heparin enoxaparin was associated with successful pregnancies in patients with recurrent unexplained miscarriages associated with an impaired fibrinolytic capacity.