Pregnancy Outcomes of In Vitro Fertilization with or without Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Chinese Patients / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The effect of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) on pregnancy outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients is still ambiguous. This study aimed to analyze pregnancy outcomes of IVF with or without OHSS in Chinese patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective cohort study was undertaken to compare pregnancy outcomes between 190 women with OHSS and 197 women without OHSS. We examined the rates of clinical pregnancy, multiple pregnancies, miscarriage, live birth, preterm delivery, preterm birth before 34 weeks' gestation, cesarean delivery, low birth weight (LBW), and small-for-gestational age (SGA) between the two groups. Odds ratios (OR s) and 95% confidence intervals (CI s) of measure of clinical pregnancy were also analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The clinical pregnancy rate of OHSS patients was significantly higher than that of non-OHSS patients (91.8% vs. 43.5%, P < 0.001). After controlling for drug protocol and causes of infertility, the adjusted OR s of moderate OHSS and severe/critical OHSS for clinical pregnancy were 4.65 (95% CI, 1.86-11.61) and 5.83 (95% CI, 3.45-9.86), respectively. There were no significant differences in rates of multiple pregnancy (4.0% vs. 3.7%) and miscarriage (16.1% vs. 17.5%) between the two groups. With regard to ongoing clinical pregnancy, we also found no significant differences in the rates of live birth (82.1% vs. 78.8%), preterm delivery (20.9% vs. 17.5%), preterm birth before 34 weeks' gestation (8.6% vs. 7.9%), cesarean delivery (84.9% vs. 66.3%), LBW (30.2% vs. 23.5%), and SGA (21.9% vs. 17.6%) between the two groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>OHSS, which occurs in the luteal phase or early pregnancy in IVF patients and represents abnormal transient hemodynamics, does not exert any obviously adverse effect on the subsequent pregnancy.</p>

Factors Associated with Effectiveness of Treatment and Reproductive Outcomes in Patients with Thin Endometrium Undergoing Estrogen Treatment / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Thin endometrium is associated with poor reproductive outcomes; estrogen treatment can increase endometrial thickness (EMT). The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to investigate the factors influencing the effectiveness of estrogen treatment and reproductive outcomes after the treatment in patients with thin endometrium.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Relevant clinical data of 101 patients with thin endometrium who had undergone estrogen treatment were collected. Possible factors influencing the effectiveness of treatment were analyzed retrospectively by logistic regression analysis. Eighty-seven infertile women without thin endometrium who had undergone assisted reproduction served as controls. The cases and controls were matched for age, assisted reproduction method, and number of embryos transferred. Reproductive outcomes of study and control groups were compared using Student's t-test and the Chi-square test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At the end of estrogen treatment, EMT was ≥8 mm in 93/101 patients (92.1%). Effectiveness of treatment was significantly associated with maximal pretreatment EMT (P = 0.017) and treatment duration (P = 0.004). The outcomes of assisted reproduction were similar in patients whose treatment was successful in increasing EMT to ≥8 mm and the control group. The rate of clinical pregnancy in patients was associated with the number of good-quality embryos transferred in both fresh (P = 0.005) and frozen-thawed (P = 0.000) embryo transfer cycles.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Thinner EMT before estrogen treatment requires longer treatment duration and predicts poorer treatment outcomes. The effectiveness of treatment depends on the duration of estrogen administration. Assisted reproductive outcomes of patients whose treatment is successful (i.e., achieves an EMT ≥8 mm) are similar to those of controls. The quality of embryos transferred is an important predictor of assisted reproductive outcomes in patients treated successfully with exogenous estrogen.</p>

The chick embryo chorioaUantioc membrane as a model for in vivo research on anti-angiogenesis in endometriosis / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To establish the chick embryo chorioallantioc membrane(CAM)as a model for in vivo research on endometriosis.The model was used to investigate the mechanism of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)antibody for treatment of endometriosis.Methods Human endometrial fragments were explanted onto the CAM.Then anti-VEGF antibody was used for the endometriosis-like lesions after transplantation of human endometrial fragments.The CAM models were treated respectively as control groups and experimental groups.The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated biotin- deoxyuridine triphosphate(dUTP)nick end labeling(TUNEL),proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) and microvessel density(MVD)were used in vivo for analysis of anti-angiogenesis.Results The apoptosis intensity of anti-VEGF antibody treated groups(6.7?0,9,6.9?0.8)was significantly higher than that of the control groups(5.0?0.9,5.4?1.1;P