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The surgeon's guide to positioning, port placement, safety, efficiency, and payment.

Three surgeons discuss the pros and cons of the two methods.

Patient education handout for becoming pregnant after bariatric surgery

A plan for determining if intrauterine growth restriction is present, then monitoring and delivering when and how it's best for mother and infant.

Compared with hysterectomy, GNRHa is an effective treatment of uterine fibroids and has an equivalent effect on sexual function.

The actual measurements of the total and core diameters of laser fibers used for urological surgery do not conform to the advertised measurements, a new study found.

A new registry-based study sheds light on patient factors that may influence risk of breast cancer associated with use of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT)-including race, weight, and breast density. Findings from the report, published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest the greatest association between HRT use and breast cancer in women with low/normal body mass index (BMI) and extremely dense breasts.

In an update of its 2002 recommendation on use of medications for breast cancer risk reduction, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is encouraging informed decision-making and cautioning against use of medications for prevention in women who are not at increased risk of the disease.

• Leading experts discuss the emergence of certified nurse midwives into mainstream obstetric care. • Has your practice implemented collaborative care practices?

For many physicians, no matter their specialty, the one thing that keeps them up at night is fear of medical malpractice lawsuits. Elisabeth Madden, partner at Lynch Gilardi and Grummer law firm in San Francisco, is an attorney with more than 20 years’ experience defending healthcare providers. In this article, based on a session at a recent conference for dermatologic surgeons, Ms. Madden explains some of the top ways surgeons can avoid medical malpractice lawsuits.

What is your diagnosis of this incidental finding during routine ultrasonography in a 15-week fetus?

The use of 40 Gy in 15 fractions over 3 weeks is as effective and causes less damage to nearby tissue than a higher total dose of radiotherapy for breast cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) advisory committee cleared the way for the approval of pertuzumab (Perjeta) to treat patients before they have surgery to remove their HER2-positive tumors. If approved, pertuzumab would be the first neoadjuvant drug approval for any form of cancer. The drug was already approved by the FDA for treatment of late-stage breast cancer last year.

A new multicenter analysis shows that most deaths from invasive breast cancer occur in women who don’t get routine mammograms. The findings, published in Cancer, point to a need to encourage routine screening in women younger than age 50.

Expectant mothers might not need to worry about a glass of wine, according to new research published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

A birth plan should not be viewed as an advance directive but rather as a record of aspirations. Labor is a time of improvisation, and no one can foresee its course.

The successful management of heavy menstrual bleeding with endometrial resection or ablation depends more on the surgeon’s skill than the technique used.

Experience should prevail when choosing an antihypertensive for very high blood pressure during pregnancy, because the evidence supporting one drug’s use over another is lacking.

Low levels of adiponectin before pregnancy were associated with a 5-fold increased risk of gestational diabetes. This risk was 7-fold in obese or overweight women.

10 ob/gyn practices to follow on Twitter. If your practice (or department) tweets, let us know!

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the new drug application (NDA) for Merck’s investigational fertility treatment corifollitropin alfa. Merck is seeking approval for the use of corifollitropin alfa in controlled ovarian stimulation (COS). If approved, the drug would be the first sustained follicular stimulant available in the United States.

What is your diagnosis in this middle-aged woman with abnormal vaginal bleeding?

Radiofrequency volumetric thermal ablation for uterine fibroids is associated with a significant reduction in symptom severity and with improvements in quality of life even at 2 years’ post treatment.

The results of 2 unrelated studies show that breastfeeding may safeguard against breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

The findings of a recent study have shown that uterine fibroid tumors are more common and more severe in African American women compared with white women. Find out how you can better treat uterine fibroid tumors in this high-risk population.

The best first- and second-line therapies for vulvovaginal atrophy are highlighted in an updated position statement from The North American Menopause Society.

Recent findings by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that around the world, life expectancy for women over age 50 is still increasing.

In 2010, Medicaid financed 48% of all births in the United States, an increase of 19% in the proportion of all births covered by Medicaid in 2008. This finding, from a study published in the Sept. 2013 issue of the journal Women's Health Issues, adds to previous research showing that the numbers of women dependent on Medicaid for health care are growing.

Estrogen therapy is still the mainstay of therapy for moderate-to-severe symptoms and long-term studies on endometrial safety of local estrogen and ospemifene are lacking. Those are the key conclusions from an updated position statement on management of symptomatic vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) in postmenopausal women issued by the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

The consumption of green tea extract has been shown to significantly reduce the size of uterine fibroids and improve symptom severity, a small study reported.