Fitz-hugh-curtis syndrome in a male patient: a case report and literature review.

Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome is a condition characterized by inflammation of the liver capsule with concomitant pelvic inflammation without involvement of liver parenchyma. It is classically seen in young women who present with sharp, pleuritic right upper quadrant pain, usually but not always accompanied by symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and is frequently confused with biliary tract disease. Rarely the syndrome has been reported in males, and hematogenous and lymphatic spread to liver is thought to be the underlying mechanism. Serological tests and computed tomography (CT) scan may aid in diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome. Definitive diagnosis is made by laparoscopy, which provides both diagnostic and therapeutic benefits. We report a case of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome in a young male patient, which was diagnosed and treated by laparoscopy. We also include a review of the literature.

Comparison outcome of fresh and vitrified donor oocytes in an egg-sharing donation program.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the survival, fertilization, early embryonic development, and clinical outcomes from fresh and vitrified cohort oocytes. DESIGN: Review of egg-sharing program, in which the eggs from one donor were shared by recipients of fresh and vitrified eggs. SETTING: IVF center. PATIENT(S): 77 women, comprising 36 patients receiving vitrified donor oocytes and 41 patients receiving fresh donor oocytes. INTERVENTION(S): Shared donor eggs vitrified by the Cryotop method warmed after vitrification, with microinjection of surviving metaphase 2 (MII) or fresh oocytes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Survival, fertilization, cleavage rate, pregnancy rate, and implantation. RESULT(S): Of the vitrified oocytes, 192 (91.4%) survived. There was no statistically significant difference in fertilization and cleavage rates, embryo quality, or clinical results obtained from vitrified compared with fresh oocytes. The outcomes of cycles using fresh oocytes were predictive of the cycle outcomes after warming of oocytes from the same cohort. CONCLUSION(S): Oocyte donations using vitrified oocytes can provide the same quality of embryos, pregnancy, and implantation potential as fresh oocyte donations.

Vitrification of biopsied embryos at cleavage, morula and blastocyst stage.

This study investigated the effect of vitrification on biopsied embryos at various developmental stages. After biopsy on day 3, embryos were vitrified at cleavage, morula and blastocyst stages using a commercially available kit. Nonbiopsied embryos were vitrified as controls. For day-3 cleavage embryo vitrification, embryos from abnormally fertilized oocytes were randomly allocated to the biopsy and control groups. For morula and blastocyst vitrification, the embryos used in the biopsy groups were obtained from aneuploidy or affected embryos diagnosed by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). After warming, survival, blastulation and development of embryos in different groups were compared. The survival rate after warming in the non-biopsied cleavage control group was significantly higher than in the biopsied cleavage group (92.0% versus 64.0%, P = 0.037). Most of the biopsied embryos were destroyed due to blastomeres escaping. At the morula stage, both biopsied and non-biopsied embryos had similar survival rates. However, a significantly higher survival rate (95.6%) was observed in the biopsied blastocyst group compared with the control group (81.3%, P = 0.035). Biopsied embryos vitrified at an advanced stage had as high survival rates as non-biopsied embryos. Vitrification at the blastocyst stage is a practical and efficient solution for embryo cryopreservation during PGD.