Perception of pain and the oocyte donor experience: a retrospective analysis of commercial US donors.

Research Question: What is the relationship between oocyte donor characteristics and their pain perception, their expectation and experience of pain, and the interaction between pain and overall satisfaction with the donation process?

Design: Institutional Review Board approved, retrospective survey of commercial, US oocyte donors was emailed to recent donors recruited through Donor Egg Bank USA before 2020.

Results: Of the 503 opened emails, 246 individuals responded (48.9%).

Minimally invasive surgical options for congenital and acquired uterine factors associated with recurrent pregnancy loss.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is defined as two or more failed clinical pregnancies before 20 weeks' gestation and may be caused by genetic, endocrinologic, anatomic and immunologic abnormalities. Anatomic uterine anomalies include congenital malformations (bicornuate, didelphic, septate and unicornuate uteri) and acquired defects (fibroids, adenomas, adhesions and polyps). Women with septate and bicornuate uteri, intrauterine adhesions, and some adenomas and fibroids are at increased risk of RPL.

Uterine factors.

Uterine anomalies are one of the most common parental causes of recurrent pregnancy loss, occurring in about 19% of patients. Congenital uterine anomalies are most likely caused by HOX gene mutations, although the mechanism is probably polygenic. There are no known environmental causes other than estrogenic endocrine disruptors such as diethylstilbestrol.

Effect of prior birth and miscarriage frequency on the prevalence of acquired and congenital uterine anomalies in women with recurrent miscarriage: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To determine whether a prior live birth or an increase in number of miscarriages impacted the prevalence of congenital or acquired uterine anomalies in women with predominantly early recurrent miscarriage (RM).

Design: Single-center, cross-sectional study.

Setting: Patients with RM at a private practice.

CD9 Expression by Human Granulosa Cells and Platelets as a Predictor of Fertilization Success during IVF.

Objective. To determine whether CD9 expression on human granulosa cells (GCs) and platelets could predict the success of conventional fertilization of human oocytes during in vitro fertilization (IVF). Methods.

Diagnostic factors identified in 1020 women with two versus three or more recurrent pregnancy losses.

Objective: To determine whether the frequency of abnormal results for evidence-based diagnostic tests differed among women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) based on the number of prior losses (n = 2, 3, or > or =4) and to determine whether abnormal results for additional investigative diagnostic tests differed in prevalence among women with different numbers of pregnancy losses.

Design: Single-center, retrospective study.

Setting: Patients with RPL at a private practice.

Developing information fluency in introductory biology students in the context of an investigative laboratory.

Students of biology must learn the scientific method for generating information in the field. Concurrently, they should learn how information is reported and accessed. We developed a progressive set of exercises for the undergraduate introductory biology laboratory that combine these objectives.