Can blood and semen presepsin levels in males predict pregnancy in couples undergoing intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection?

Objective: To determine whether semen and plasma presepsin values measured in men with normozoospermia and oligoasthenospermia undergoing invitro-fertilization would be helpful in predicting ongoing pregnancy and live birth

Methods: Group-I was defined as patients who had pregnancy after treatment and Group-II comprised those with no pregnancy. Semen and blood presepsin values were subsequently compared between the groups. Parametric comparisons were performed using Student's t-test, and non-parametric comparisons were conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test

Results: There were 42 patients in Group-I and 72 in Group-II. In the context of successful pregnancy and live birth, semen presepsin values were statistically significantly higher in Group-I than in Group-II [p= 0.004 and p= 0.037, respectively]. The most appropriate semen presepsin cut-off value for predicting both ongoing pregnancy and live birth was calculated as 199 pg/mL. Accordingly, their sensitivity was 64.5% to 59.3%, their specificity was 57.0% to 54.2%, and their positive predictive value was 37.0% to 29.6%, respectively; their negative predictive value was 80.4% in both instances

Conclusion: Semen presepsin values could be a new marker that may enable the prediction of successful pregnancy and/or live birth. Its negative predictive values are especially high

effect of total hysterectomy on sexual function and depression

Background and Objectives: To investigate whether the operations of Type 1 hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy performed for benign reasons have any effect on sexual life and levels of depression. Method: This is a multi-center, comparative, prospective study. Healthy, sexual active patients aged between 40 and 60 were included into the study. Data was collected with the technique of face-to-face meeting held three months before and after the operation by using the demographic data form developed by the researchers i.e.the Female Sexual Function Index [FSFI] and the Beck Depression Scale [BDS]. Results: In the post-operative third month, there was an improvement in dysuria in terms of symptomatology [34% and 17%, P<0.001], while in FSFI [41.47+/-25.46 to 34.20+/-26.67, P<0.001] and BDS [12.87+/-11.19 to 14.27+/-10.95, P=0.015] there was a deterioration. For FSFI, 50-60 age range, extended family structure; and for BDS, educational status, not working and extended family structure were statistically important confounding factors for increased risk in the post-operative period. Conclusion: While hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy performed for benign reasons brought about short-term improvement in urinary problems after the operation for sexually active and healthy women, they resulted in sexual dysfunction and increase in depression. The age, educational status, working condition and family structure is also important

Vaginal micronized progesterone capsule versus vaginal progesterone gel for luteal support in normoresponder IVF/ICSI-ET cycles

To compare the outcomes of luteal phase support by micronized progesteron vaginal capsule 600mg/day and progesterone vaginal gel 180 mg/day in the normoresponder IVF/ICSI-ET cycles of the patients down-regulated via GnRH agonist long protocol or fixed antagonist protocol below 40 years of age. A total of 463 normoresponder cycles between January 2013 and December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Those with a BMI>28 kg/m[2], any kind of uterine, ovarian or adnexial pathology, any significant systemic, endocrine or metabolic disease or who were reported as azoospermia, were excluded from the study. The patients were grouped according to the usage of micronized progesterone vaginal capsule 600 mg/day [Group 1] or progesterone vaginal gel 180 mg/day [Group 2] as luteal phase Treatment cycle characteristics and pregnancy outcomes were compared between groups. Group-I included 220 cycles and group 2 included 243 cycles. Although the MII oocyte percentage among the total number of MII oocytes was significantly higher in Group-II [77.5% and 80.2%; p=0.034], positive beta-hCG [32.3% and 21.8%; p=0.015] and clinical pregnancy [27.3% and 17.7%; p=0.018] rates were significantly higher in Group-I. No difference was observed between groups regarding the ongoing pregnancy rates [23.2% and 17.3%; p=0.143]. Micronized progesterone vaginal capsule 600 mg daily used for luteal support in the IVF/ICSIET cycles was observed to significantly increase the biochemical and clinical pregnancy rates compared to progesterone vaginal gel 180 mg daily. However, no difference was observed between two groups regarding ongoing pregnancy rates

role of maternal serumbeta-HCG and PAPP-A levels at gestational weeks 10 to 14 in the prediction of pre-eclampsia

We aimed to detect whether maternal serum free B-hCG and PAPP-A levels and NT measurements vary between normal pregnancies and those that subsequently develop pre-eclampsia and to evaluate the role of these screening serum analytes in the prediction of pre-eclampsia. Using a case-control study design, we identified all women who had been screened by double test within 11+0 and 13+6 weeks of gestation and who had developed pre-eclampsia during the subsequent pregnancy course, over a 6-year period between January 2006 and December 2012 at two tertiary referral hospital. All women who had undergone a double test during that time, without a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia and who had not had any adverse obstetric outcomes, were also identified, and three women among them were randomly selected as controls for each case. Maternal and neonatal data were abstracted from the medical records and PAPP-A, B-hCG, NT and CRL MoM values were compared between the two groups. Although B-hCG values show no statistically significant difference [p=0.882], PAPP-A levels were significantly reduced in the pre-eclampsia group compared to the control group [p < 0.001]. NT and CRL values showed no significant difference between the two groups [p=0.674 and p=0.558, respectively]. Measuring PAPP-A in the first trimester may be useful in the prediction of pre-eclampsia