Infertility

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The coming of the Internet can be compared with the birth of your first child. Everyone tells you that it will change your life beyond belief and you think you have understood what they mean and that you are perfectly prepared... until the day arrives.

A primitive form of the Internet was first described in 1961–1962 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by L. Kleinrock and J.C.R. Licklider [1]. By the end of 1969, four computers were connected into the first form of the Internet called ARPA-NET (Advanced Research Projects Agency net). In the early 1970s the TCP/IP protocol was in place.

How should you start searching for websites in the field of gynaecology? Of course, you could start at the FIGO website (http://www.figo.org), where there is much useful information. FIGO has 101 member societies, of which about 25 have their own websites at this moment.

The Internet has the potential to revolutionise the way we obtain and disseminate medical information. There is an enormous volume and variety of health-related information on the Internet [1, 2]. Some information available on the Internet about perinatology (aimed at professionals) is discussed here. We restrict ourselves mainly to websites for professionals in the English language.

The diagnostic sonography (ultrasound) profession is populated by technophiles. In general, people who gravitate to ultrasound are not afraid of technology or computers. For this reason alone, it is not surprising that sonographers and sonologists have flocked to use the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) for education, consultations and communications with colleagues across the globe.

Conversely, doctors found themselves facing Internet Printout Syndrome: patients would come to their offices armed with reams of paper about their conditions. It was impossible for the doctor to sort through all this information during the diminishing time allotted for an office visit.

Logging on to the Internet, particularly as a lay person, the sheer volume of information is alarming, and there is often no indication of how up to date it is and from which sources it was drawn.

There will be a time (perhaps sooner than one might think) that a practice website (or homepage) will be as normal, and as necessary, as telephone and fax nowadays.

During the last decade, the production of medical information has doubled every 2 years. It is predicted that information will double at an even faster rate, i.e. every 1–3 months [1]. This dramatic rate of changing medical knowledge presents a challenge for physicians to keep themselves up to date.

2000 September 17-21  Tblisi, Georgia Xth World Congress on Gestational Trophoblastic Disease Contact: chark@access.sanet.geSeptember 20-21 London, UK Psychosexual medicine in practice Contact: http://www.med.ic.ac.uk/dp/dpshSeptember 20-23 Leuven, Belgium From Gamete to Newborn Contact: http://www.gamete-to-newborn.orgOctober 04-06 London, UK Medical problems facing obstetricians and  gynaecologists in pregnancy Contact: http://www.med.ic.ac.uk/dp/dpsh/default.htm  or sympreg@ic.ac.ukOctober 04-07 Zagreb, Croatia 10th World Congress Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ISUOG) Contact: http://www.hko.hr or http://www.isuog.orgOctober 12 London, UK Maternal mental health and the child Contact: http://www.med.ic.ac.uk/dp/dpsh October 19-21 Paris, France 9th Congress of the European Society for  Gynaecological Endoscopy (ESGE) Contact: http://www.convergences.fr/uk/aesge.htm October 20 London, UKWomen and children with HIV and AIDS Contact: http://www.med.ic.ac.uk/dp/dpsh October 21-26 San Diego, CA, USA 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Contact: http://www.asrm.org October 22-25 Rome, Italy XXVth Annual Meeting of the International  UroGynecological Association (IUGA) Contact: http://www.iuga2000.com  October 28-30 Bruges, Belgium 3rd Congress of the European Society of Gynecology Contact: thomas@ocst.ucl.ac.be November 03-04 Halle/Saale, Germany Gynecologic surgery: from experience to  evidence-based medicine Contact: gerda.bertram@medizin.uni-halle.de November 14-19 Orlando, FL, USA Global Congress of Gynecologic Endoscopy  AAGL 29th Annual Meeting  Contact: http://aagl.com/aaglcal.htmNovember 23-26 Brussels, Belgium 5th World Congress on the Internet in Medicine (MEDNET 2000) Contact: http://www.mdf.be/mednet2000/index2.htm December 06-08 Florence, Italy 8th World Congress of Gynecological Endocrinology Contact: http://www.biomedicaltechnologies.com/cinteng.html 2001 March 28-31 Chicago, IL, USA 10th Annual ISGE Congress Contact: http://www.eventsintl.com/isge2001

Feasibility of laparoscopic myomectomy is now accepted even if the attention is still stressed on technical difficulties due to myoma location and size and difficulty in reapproximating the incision by laparoscopic suturing that requires perfect mastery of endoscopic suturing.

The objective of this manuscript is to study the pregnancy rate and the prognostic factors for conception after myomectomy carried out in cases of infertility.

A case of unicornuate uterus with cavitary non-communicating rudimentary horn suddenly revealing with acute abdomen is presented. The patient was managed by laparoscopic miniaccess hemihysterectomy.

Although diagnostic problems make it difficult to establish the extent of the male partner's contribution with certainty, a number of studies suggest that male problems represent the most common single defined cause of infertility.

Brief overview of human egg and embryo freezing. Discussion of merits of currently utilized cryopreservation protocols. Practical issues of cryopreservation with reference to egg or embryo selection, and thaw replacement protocols. Alternative cryopreservation technologies.

The frequency of chromosome aberration in spontaneous and induced abortions in the first three-month period of pregnancy has been presented in this study. The examination has been done in the period from 2001 till 2002 on the sample of 80 chorion and fetal tissue of 8-12 weeks of gestation.

This article discusses the nature of infertility treatment and its relation to infertile couples' desires for multiple pregnancy, the special risks of iatrogenic multiple pregnancy (IMP), the informed consent process in assisted reproductive technology, and the ethical dilemma of IMP and methods for its resolution.

UK fertility experts have sounded a note of cautious optimism about the safety of preserving ovarian tissue and transplanting it back into women after cancer treatment.

A 35-year-old nulliparous woman with a giant uterine myoma is described. During the past three years she had developed a intramural myoma and a subserous myoma. Although the lesions were excised, both reappeared and were treated with GnRH analogues for 6 months.

Telemedicine is the electronic transmission of health information for the delivery of clinical care from a distance. Today it is increasingly used to provide efficiencies in the delivery of women’s health care.

Over the past two decades, an epidemic of multiple pregnancies has taken place in the developed world due to the widespread use of assisted reproductive technology. The general public has come to accept the phenomenon of higher order multiple as being a normal occurrence, expecting a good outcome for both the fetuses and the mother.

Uteroplacental Bleeding Disorders During Pregnancy: Do Missing Paternal Characteristics Influence Risk?

Patients suffering from diseased and injured organs may be treated with transplanted organs. However, there is a severe shortage of donor organs which is worsening yearly due to the aging population. Scientists in the field of tissue engineering apply the principles of cell transplantation, materials science, and bioengineering to construct biological substitutes that will restore and maintain normal function in diseased and injured tissues.

Molecular Mechanisms in Uterine Epithelium during Trophoblast Binding:The Role of Small GTPase RhoA in Human Uterine Ishikawa Cells

The sperm penetration assay (SPA) is used to predict the fertilizing capacity of sperm. Thus, some programs rely on SPA scores to formulate insemination plans in conjunction with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a relationship exists between SPA scores and polyspermy rates during conventional IVF cycles.

About 30–40% of male infertility is due to unknown reasons. Genetic contributions to the disruption of spermatogenesis are suggested and amongst the genetic factors studied, Y chromosome microdeletions represent the most common one. Screening for microdeletions in AZFa, b and c region of Y chromosome showed a big variation among different studies.

The publication of a report in Nature in 2004 by the Tilly group suggesting that mouse ovaries are capable of generating oocytes de novo post-natally, has sparked interest in a problem long thought to have been resolved from classical studies in a variety of mammalian species.

Cervical cancer is the second most common gynecological cancer amongst women world-wide. Despite optimized protocols, standard treatments still face several disadvantages. Therefore, research aims at the development of immune-based strategies using tumor antigen-loaded dendritic cells for the induction of cellular anti-tumor immunity.