The effect of religious background on the attitude towards sex selection.

Objectives: Surveys of the general population regarding sex selection using pre-implantation genetic diagnosis are limited and were mainly conducted in the United States and Northern Europe. In those Western societies, surveys have shown that people's interest in using sex selection techniques is encouraged by the desire for a sexually balanced family. It is important to determine attitudes to sex selection in a wider range of countries especially that cultural differences exist among countries.

Effect of religion on the attitude of primiparous women toward genetic testing.

Background: Factors that influence a pregnant woman's decision to accept or decline genetic tests are largely undefined. The objective of this study was to determine the acceptance rate of prenatal diagnostic testing in Lebanon according to religion.

Methods: Prenatal charts were reviewed to obtain information about prenatal genetic testing.

Two dose regimens of nifedipine for management of preterm labor: a randomized controlled trial.

We compared two dose regimens of tocolytic oral nifedipine. Women with singleton pregnancies admitted in preterm labor (24 to 34 weeks) were randomized to high-dose (HD) nifedipine ( N = 49; 20 mg loading dose, repeated in 30 minutes, daily 120 to 160 mg slow-release nifedipine for 48 hours followed by 80 to 120 mg daily until 36 weeks) or low-dose (LD) nifedipine ( N = 53; 10 mg, up to four doses every 15 minutes, daily 60 to 80 mg slow-release nifedipine for 48 hours followed by 60 mg daily until 36 weeks). Uterine quiescence at 48 hours (primary outcome); delivery at 48 hours, 34 and 37 weeks; and recurrent preterm labor were similar.

Effect of 1-month war in Lebanon on sex ratio.

Our study showed no effect of 33-day war in Lebanon on sex ratio. More research is needed to explore other modifying factors for a better understanding of the complex effect of wars on sex ratio changes.

Attitude of women with IVF and spontaneous pregnancies towards prenatal screening.

Background: Factors influencing a pregnant woman's decision to accept prenatal testing are largely undefined. Our study aimed to compare the acceptance rate of prenatal diagnosis in women who conceived through IVF or ICSI (cases) with that of women who conceived spontaneously (controls).

Methods: Retrospective chart review in Lebanon of all primiparas carrying singletons who were offered prenatal testing (triple screen/amniocentesis) from 2004-2007.

Effect of war on fertility: a review of the literature.

The aim of this study was to review the existing literature on the effect of war on female and male fertility. A MEDLINE search for studies that included participants defined as infertile because they were unsuccessful in achieving a pregnancy after a year and studies that assessed the effect of war on semen parameters and menstrual dysfunction were performed. Twenty articles were included in this review.

Occupational and environmental exposures to heavy metals: risk factors for male infertility in Lebanon?

A case-control study was conducted to examine whether occupational or environmental exposures, particularly to heavy metals, are associated with male infertility in Lebanon, a war-torn country with a history of environmental degradation. Seventy-four infertile cases and 76 fertile controls were selected from 2 major fertility clinics in Beirut. Data collection involved risk-factor interviews, semen analysis, and blood collection for heavy metal analysis.

Effect of the Lebanese civil war on sperm parameters.

Objective: To assess the effect of the Lebanese civil war on sperm parameters.

Design: Retrospective review of patient records.

Setting: Males providing semen samples at a university laboratory.

Civil war and male infertility in Lebanon.

Objective: To investigate the long-term impacts of the 15-year Lebanese civil war on male infertility.

Design: Clinic-based, case-control study, using reproductive history and risk factor interview data and laboratory-based semen analysis.

Setting: Two IVF clinics in Beirut, Lebanon, during an 8-month period (January-August 2003).

Effect of war on the menstrual cycle.

Objective: To study the effect of a short period of war on the menstrual cycles of exposed women.

Methods: Six months after a 16-day war, women in exposed villages aged 15-45 years were asked to complete a questionnaire relating to their menstrual history at the beginning, 3 months after, and 6 months after the war. A control group, not exposed to war, was also interviewed.

Pregnancy outcome in patients with previous uterine rupture.

Background: To review the outcome of subsequent pregnancies in conservatively managed cases of uterine rupture.

Methods: Charts of patients with full thickness uterine rupture in the past 25 years were reviewed and information on subsequent pregnancies was extracted from maternal and neonatal charts.

Results: Thirty-seven patients with uterine rupture were identified; the uterus was scarred in 62.

Early ultrasonographic changes in Fowler syndrome features and review of the literature.

Background: Fowler syndrome is characterized by hydranencephaly, brain stem and basal ganglion calcifications, a glomeruloid vasculopathy of the brain vessels, and a fetal akinesia deformation sequence with muscular hypoplasia. The natural progression of the ultrasonographic features of Fowler syndrome has never been described.

Methods: Case report and review of the literature.

Placenta previa-accreta: risk factors and complications.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors and complications of placenta previa-accreta (PA).

Study Design: Patients with placenta previa (n = 347) delivered over 20 years were reviewed, divided into PA (cases, n = 22) and no accreta (controls, n = 325), and compared.

Results: Cases were older with a higher incidence of smoking and previous cesarean delivery (CS).

Pregnancy outcome in spontaneous twins versus twins who were conceived through in vitro fertilization.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare maternal and neonatal complications in spontaneous versus in vitro fertilization twins.

Study Design: Twin gestations that were delivered from 1995 to 2000 were reviewed. Cases consisted of 56 in vitro fertilization twins, each of which was matched to two control mothers by age and parity.

Undiagnosed term breech: impact on mode of delivery and neonatal outcome.

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare delivery mode and neonatal outcome in breech pregnancies diagnosed antepartum (Dx group) with those diagnosed on admission for delivery or intrapartum (No-Dx group).

Methods: During an 11-year period, breech pregnancies >/=34 weeks' gestation with a live nonanomalous fetus were reviewed. The Dx group was matched for gestational age, parity, and maternal age to the No-Dx group (n = 256) and compared using the chi2-test, the Mc-Nemar test, and the Wilcoxon rank test.

Perinatal outcome of vaginally delivered twin gestations with a larger twin B.

Objective: To study the perinatal outcome of vaginally delivered twins when twin B is more than 250 g larger than twin A.

Study Design: Maternal and neonatal charts of live-born, nonanomalous twins, >25 weeks' gestation and vaginally delivered over a period of 17 years were reviewed. The results of this review were distributed among two groups: (1).

Fetal macrosomia (> or =4500 g): perinatal outcome of 231 cases according to the mode of delivery.

Objective: To determine perinatal complications in infants >or = 4500 g according to delivery mode.

Study Design: Records of 231 mothers and live cephalic infants weighing >or = 4500 g over a 13-year period were retrospectively reviewed. Maternal and perinatal complications were compared in relation to delivery mode.