A protocol using a low dose of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist might be the best protocol for patients with high follicle-stimulating hormone concentrations on day 3.

We studied 98 in-vitro fertilization (IVF) patients with a high basal follicle stimulating hormone (FSH; >6.5 IU/l) concentration on day 3 who were treated with a low dose gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) protocol and who had received in the previous 6 months a long protocol with GnRHa in a depot formula. The evaluation was made using the previous IVF cycle of the same patient as a control. The mean +/- SD age of the patients was 34.1+/-4.2 years. The use of a low dose agonist protocol ended with significantly less ampoules (37.5 versus 46.1), a shorter duration of stimulation (10.7 versus 12.3 days), a higher oestradiol concentration on day 8 (1068 versus 495 pg/ml), a higher number of mature oocytes (5.9 versus 4.4) and a higher number of good quality embryos (3.3 versus 2.3). The cancellation rate was lower (11 versus 24%). A GnRHa low dose protocol may be the protocol of choice for patients with high FSH concentrations on day 3. Larger randomized studies are needed to confirm these data.

[Intra-uterine growth retardation and prenatal nutrition. I. Review of the literature]. / Retard de croissance intra-utérin et nutrition prénatale. I.--Revue de la littérature.

The authors have carried out a review of the literature about the consequences of alimentary deficiency in the mother on the growth of the fetus. The effects of under nutrition in the animal kingdom are well known. In the human species studies have been made in developing countries and also in countries that are developed in times of food rationing. These show that when the ration is deficient in calories there is a drop in the birthweight of the newborn. All the same, the effects of moderate malnutrition are not well established. A discussion therefore is started on the methods by which the diet is examined and the patients have been selected. Whenever there is suspicion of failure of intra-uterine growth during pregnancy, the place of enquiring into the mother's diet is emphasized, together with the other methods of investigation of the causes.