Factors affecting success rates in two concurrent clinical IVF trials: an examination of potential explanations for the difference in pregnancy rates between the United States and Europe.

Objective: To compare a US clinical trial of gonadotropin therapy for IVF with a similar European trial to determine what factors may explain the higher clinical pregnancy rate in the US trial.

Design: Comparison of baseline, treatment, and outcome variables in the United States (US) and European trials.

Setting: IVF practices in the US (n=4) and Europe (n=6).

Clinical efficacy of highly purified urinary FSH versus recombinant FSH in volunteers undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization: a randomized, multicenter, investigator-blind trial.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of highly purified human urinary follicle stimulating hormone (HP-hFSH) versus human recombinant follitropin-alpha (rFSH) in volunteers undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation for IVF.

Design: A randomized, controlled, investigator-blind trial.

Setting: Four assisted reproductive technology centers.

Effects of lacrimal occlusion with collagen and silicone plugs on patients with conjunctivitis associated with dry eye.

Purpose: To determine whether canalicular occlusion with collagen and silicone plugs reduces the severity of symptoms in patients with conjunctivitis secondary to dry eye.

Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, double-masked study conducted at a single center in Mexico, in which 61 patients with dry eye/conjunctivitis were assigned to progressive lacrimal occlusion with collagen and silicone plugs or a sham procedural group. Outcome variables included total and individual dry eye and conjunctivitis symptom scores, moisturizing agent usage, best-corrected visual acuity, ocular comfort level, visual performance, corneal/conjunctival fluorescein staining, and incidence of adverse events.

Retrospective safety study of the herrick lacrimal plug: a device used to occlude the lacrimal canaliculus.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of the Herrick Lacrimal Plug (HLP) (Lacrimedics, Eastsound, WA) by reviewing medical records obtained from patients in whom the HLP was implanted.

Methods: A total of 228, primarily dry-eye, patients who had received one or more HLP implants at 19 centers during 1994 were included in the review; both centers and patients were randomly selected for inclusion. Medical records were examined for evidence of adverse events, which were characterized by presumed relationship to treatment, time of occurrence, severity, treatment required, and clinical outcome.