ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of infertility on female sexual function. DESIGN: A case-control study. SETTING: Academic infertility and gynecology practices. PATIENT(S): One hundred nineteen women with infertility and 99 healthy female controls without infertility between the ages of 18 and 45 years were included in this study. INTERVENTION(S): Anonymous survey and Female Sexual Function Index. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Female Sexual Function Index scores, frequency of sexual intercourse and masturbation, and sex-life satisfaction. RESULT(S): Twenty-five percent of our control group had Female Sexual Function Index scores that put them at risk for sexual dysfunction (<26.55), whereas 40% of our patients with infertility met this criterion. Compared with the control group, the patients with infertility had significantly lower scores in the desire and arousal domains and lower frequency of intercourse and masturbation. The patients with infertility retrospectively reported a sex-life satisfaction score that was similar to that of the controls before their diagnosis, whereas their current sex-life satisfaction scores were significantly lower than those of the controls. CONCLUSION(S): Women with a diagnosis of infertility were found to be at higher risk for sexual dysfunction on the basis of their Female Sexual Function Index scores compared with women without infertility. The interaction of sexual function and infertility is complex and deserves further study.
Subject(s)
Infertility, Female/complications , Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological/etiology , Adolescent , Adult , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Infertility, Female/epidemiology , Middle Aged , Quality of Life , Research Design , Risk Factors , Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological/epidemiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) in women with cancer compared with healthy women. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Academic assisted reproductive technology (ART) program. PATIENT(S): Fifty women undergoing oocyte retrieval before cancer treatment and 50 age-matched controls. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Number of oocytes and matured oocytes retrieved, number of fertilized oocytes, days of stimulation, dose of gonadotropins. RESULT(S): There were no significant differences in the number of oocytes retrieved (13 vs. 11.5), the number of matured oocytes retrieved (9.7 vs. 9.6), and the number of oocytes fertilized (7.4 vs. 6.8). However, the patients with cancer had a longer duration of stimulation (10.5 vs. 9.0 days) and higher total dose of gonadotropins (4,174 IU vs. 3,416 IU). CONCLUSION(S): In our study, reasonable ovarian response was achieved by women with cancer with increased doses of gonadotropins and a longer duration of stimulation.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/complications , Infertility, Female/etiology , Infertility, Female/therapy , Oocyte Retrieval/methods , Ovulation Induction/methods , Adult , Antineoplastic Agents/adverse effects , Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy , Cell Count , Female , Fertility , Humans , Oocytes/cytology , Reproductive Techniques, Assisted , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that maternal blood glucose excursions correlate with deviation from optimized birth weight. METHODS: Patients were recruited for 3-day continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) plus self-blood glucose monitoring followed by routine diabetes screening at 26-28 weeks gestation. Patients and caregivers were blinded to CGM results. The magnitude and duration of blood glucose (BG) excursions were measured as a "glycemia index." A customized birth weight centile was calculated. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients consented, 21 completed the study: 5 diabetic and 16 nondiabetic individuals. The duration of CGM was 72 (+/-7.2) hours, and each patient performed self-BG monitoring >/=3 times per day. All diabetic and 10 nondiabetic patients had several measured BG excursions above 130 mg/dl. A positive correlation was observed between birth weight centile and glycemia index above 130 (p < 0.03); the trend persisted for nondiabetic patients alone (p < 0.05). No significant correlation was noted between birth weight centile and average 3-day CGM values, 3-day fasting BG, average 3-day self-BG monitoring values, or diabetes screening BG value. CONCLUSIONS: The glycemia index has a better correlation with birth weight centile than BG measured by conventional methods in a mixed diabetic and nondiabetic population. Fetal exposure to maternal blood glucose excursions correlates positively with fetal growth, even in nondiabetic patients with apparently normal glucose tolerance.
