To determine the concentrations of hyaluronic acid, FSH, P, and E2 in the follicular fluid (FF) obtained from IVF-ET patients and to assess the value of these measurements in predicting the outcome ...of fertilization.
One hundred eleven samples were retrospectively analyzed for the hyaluronic acid and hormone contents.
University-based tertiary care center.
Preovulatory FF samples were collected from 67 women undergoing IVF-ET treatment because of tubal absence or obstruction.
The FF hyaluronic acid and hormone concentrations were compared according to the type of ovulation induction, follicular development, and IVF outcome.
According to the type of ovulation induction, a significantly lower hyaluronic acid concentration was found in FF harvested from the patients treated with GnRH agonist-hMG. No significant correlation was found between FF hyaluronic acid and either morphological maturity of the oocyte-cumulus complex or fertilizability of oocytes. The level of FSH was significantly higher in FF, yielding a mature oocyte-cumulus complex and from which the oocyte obtained successfully fertilized and cleaved. A significant increase in the E2 concentration was found in FF in which mature cumuli oophori were present. The levels of hyaluronic acid significantly correlated with FSH in FF.
Expansion of the human oocyte-cumulus cell complex is an FSH-dependent phenomenon. The data are in agreement with the hypothesis that intrafollicular FSH plays an important role in the secretion of hyaluronic acid by granulosa cells and may act synergistically with E2 to enhance cytoplasmic maturation, resulting in successful fertilization.
A case of combined interstitial and intrauterine pregnancies after bilateral salpingectomy and in-vitro fertilization with embryo transfer is reported. The case was incorrectly diagnosed ...ultrasonographically as intrauterine triplets at 7 weeks gestation. The patient suffered from intra-abdominal bleeding at 14 weeks gestation. At laparotomy, a ruptured left interstitial pregnancy with a non-viable fetus was found in the left abdominal quadrant. The uterine defect was successfully repaired and gestational contents and blood were evacuated from the abdominal cavity. The intrauterine twin pregnancy progressed without incident, and a Caesarean section was performed at 36 weeks gestation, resulting in healthy male and female infants.
Sixty follicular fluids obtained from 26 women with either clomiphene citrate and human menopausal gonadotropins (hMG) or hMG-induced ovulation were analyzed for the contents of total proteins, ...fibrinogen, plasminogen, antithrombin III, ceruloplasmin, alpha-2 macroglobulin, alpha-1 antitrypsin and immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM). Concentrations of these proteins was correlated to the type of ovarian follicle growth induction. Follicular fluids from patients stimulated with clomiphene citrate-hMG contained significantly higher concentrations of ceruloplasmin than those treated with hMG alone. No significant differences in the concentrations of other proteins were noted between the two types of ovarian induction. A multivariate data analysis resulted in three Varimax factors (VRX I) suggesting that proteins with antiprotease activity in the follicular fluid may play a role in human follicle maturation. Follicular fluid Ig may reflect the degree of follicular wall permeability under hMG treatment. Accordingly, it may be assumed that a combination of different proteins described by VRX factors could be used for evaluation of ovarian stimulation.
A case of simultaneous bilateral tubal pregnancy resulting from in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer is presented. Repeated transvaginal ultrasound examinations confirmed an intrauterine sac ...but no fetus. A diagnosis of early missed abortion was incorrectly made and a curettage was performed. The pathological examination showed the presence of decidua and Arias-Stella phenomenon but no chorionic villi. Diagnostic laparoscopy and laparotomy performed 40 days after embryo transfer (eighth week of gestation), revealed bilateral tubal pregnancy. Bilateral salpingectomy was performed.
Prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha), progesterone (P4) and estradiol-17 beta (E2) in follicular fluid were measured by radioimmunoassay in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo ...transfer. Follicular growth was induced using clomiphene citrate-hMG-hCG (15 patients) and FSH-hMG-hCG (4 patients). There was no significant difference in follicular fluid PGF2 alpha and P4 concentrations relative to oocyte maturity as assessed morphologically. The highest PGF2 alpha concentration was found in fluid from FSH-hMG-hCG cycles where fertilization occurred. The value is significantly higher (p less than 0.002) than in fluid from clomiphene-hMG-hCG cycles whether fertilization took place or not. There was no significant difference in P4 and E2 levels in relation to the type of ovarian induction or success in fertilization. Positive correlation between P4 and E2 in follicular fluid was found (r = 0.404). The positive correlation between total dose of hMG given to the patients and PGF2 alpha concentration in their preovulatory follicular fluid (r = 0.434) suggests that PGF2 alpha is secreted locally as the result of hMG and hCG stimulation. It is proposed that PGF2 alpha could be a biochemical marker for assessing the success of in vitro fertilization.
Forty-eight zygotes with more than two pronuclei were identified after in vitro fertilization, representing 6.1% of all fertilized oocytes. The chromosome preparations from pronuclear stage to the ...cleaved human embryos were examined. Prophase was found in eight out of ten zygotes. The spreading of chromosomes allowed an adequate counting in only two cases. Six of the eight preparations displayed a late prophase. In this stage each haploid group of chromosomes can be analysed separately. Kariogamy usually occurred 4 to 5 h after the pronuclei had disappeared, and polyploid number of chromosomes were found in well-spread metaphases. The chromosomal preparations were made for eleven human embryos arising from zygotes with three pronuclei. Out of ten preparations, where the chromosomes could be counted, seven embryos (70%) contained hypodiploidic groups of chromosomes. In two of the cases, however, triploid metaphases were found, and in the last one a triploid/diploid mosaicism.
The case of a primarily infertile patient with polycystic ovaries (PCOS) resistant to medicamentous ovulation induction is presented. The preoperative condition, laparoscopic ovarian drilling using ...an original technique of bipolar electrocoagulation and consecutive spontaneous pregnancy and delivery are described. This case suggests that bipolar forceps with jaws 1 mm wide could be a useful instrument for laparoscopic ovarian drilling.
Report on a case of sclerosing stromal tumor of the ovary with detailed pre- and postoperative hormonal analysis and an electron microscopic study of the tumors. The tumor was secreting both ...estrogenic and androgenic hormones. Ultrastructural studies have corroborated previous light microscopic findings on the variegated appearance of the tumor and the abundance of collagen among the cells and indicated that the tumor is functionally active and of ovarian stromal origin.
A case of simultaneous bilateral tubal pregnancy resulting from in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer is presented. Repeated transvaginal ultrasound examinations confirmed an intrauterine sac ...but no fetus, A diagnosis of early missed abortion was incorrectly made and a curettage was performed, The pathological examination showed the presence of decidua and Arias-Stella phenomenon but no chorionic villi. Diagnostic laparoscopy and laparotomy performed 40 days after embryo transfer (eighth week of gestation), revealed bilateral tubal pregnancy. Bilateral salpingectomy was performed.
The association between certain human papilomaviruses (HPV) and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is well documented, but still unknown among Croatian women. In 1995, women between the age of ...17 and 64 with cytomorphologically abnormal smears (CIN I-IV) were tested for the presence of HPV. Consensus and specific primers were used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the most common types: 6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33, as well as the unknown-risk HPV types (HPV X). Out of 379 specimens, 163 (43%) contained one or more HPV types. Coinfection with different HPV types in the same sample was observed in 16 cases. Beside low-risk HPV 6/11 (25.8%) the most frequently observed types were high-risk HPV types 16 (20.2%) and 31 (17.8%). Globally, the HPV positivity rate declines with age. The presence of HPV DNA significantly increased from 35.5 to 61.1% along with the severity of the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN I-IV). HPV type 6/11 was strongly associated with CIN I (33.8%), HPV type 31 with CIN II (22.9%), and HPV type 16 with CIN III (50%).