The Comparison of Patient Characteristics, Therapy Outcome, and Sexual Functions in Vaginismus Patients Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background The objective of this study conducted at one center is to compare the demographic features and female sexual functions of patients treated for vaginismus before the COVID-19 pandemic to those treated for vaginismus during the pandemic. Aim Additionally, the study intends to evaluate the results of vaginismus therapy and assess the post-treatment sexual functioning of women. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the medical records of patients diagnosed with vaginismus who sought treatment between March 2018 and March 2022.

Obstetric outcomes of 297 women treated for vaginismus.

Objective: Vaginismus is a disease characterized by vaginal spasms that impede sexual penetration and lead to sexual dysfunction. The association between this disease and infertility is quite well acknowledged. This paper aims to assess the obstetric outcomes and patient characteristics of vaginismus-treated women.

Regression of endometrial autografts in a rat model of endometriosis treated with etanercept.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy (etanercept) for treating endometriosis in the rat endometriosis model.

Study Design: A randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded study using rat endometriosis model. After the peritoneal implantation of endometrial tissue, twenty-eight Wistar female rats were randomized to two equal intervention groups: the control group and the etanercept-treated group.

Circulating levels of copeptin, a novel biomarker in pre-eclampsia.

Aims: Increasing evidence supports the participation of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. Copeptin is co-synthesized with vasopressin and is a new and promising novel marker of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Our aim was to investigate copeptin levels in normotensive pregnant, mild and severe pre-eclamptic women.

Giant hemorrhagic adrenal pseudocyst in a primiparous pregnancy: report of a case.

Adrenal cysts are rare and are usually discovered incidentally during diagnostic imaging, surgery, or autopsy. Most cystic lesions of the adrenal gland are nonfunctioning and become symptomatic when complicated by rupture, hemorrhage, or infection. A 40-year-old woman presented with a history of gradual-onset pain in her left flank region at 20 weeks' gestation.

Inflammatory-metabolic parameters in obese and nonobese normoandrogenemic polycystic ovary syndrome during metformin and oral contraceptive treatment.

Our aim was to evaluate the optimal treatment strategy addressing cardiovascular risk in obese and nonobese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). We planned a prospectıve randomized clinical study. Normoandrogenemic and oligoamenorrheic women with PCOS and impaired glucose tolerance (n = 96) were enrolled in the study.

Abdominal and pelvic hydatid cyst obstructing the labor.

Hydatid cystic disease is a parasitic disease primarily infesting the sheep and cattle. It is a rare condition in pregnancy with an incidence of 1/20000 pregnancies. An eighteen-year-old primigravida was evaluated due to obstructed labor.

Predictive value of middle cerebral artery to uterine artery pulsatility index ratio in preeclampsia.

Objective: To determine the predictive value of middle cerebral artery (MCA) to uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) ratio in preeclamptic patients.

Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was performed on 64 preeclamptic and 131 normal pregnancies at or beyond 26 weeks of gestation between June 2007-August 2008 in the high-risk pregnancy unit of Dr. Zekai Tahir Burak Women Health Teaching and Research Hospital, Ankara.

Efficacy of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy on endometriosis in an experimental rat model.

Objective: To show the efficacy of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy (etanercept) for treating endometriosis in an experimental model.

Design: A randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded study using rat endometriosis model.

Setting: Experimental research center of Ankara Education and Research Hospital.

Obesity alters retrieved oocyte count and clinical pregnancy rates in high and poor responder women after in vitro fertilization.

Objective: Ovarian responsiveness to ovulation induction agents is essential for a successful clinical outcome in assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles. We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of multinominal logistic models for the prediction of ovarian reserve and pregnancy in women undergoing ART cycles.

Patients And Methods: 1,970 patients who underwent ovarian stimulation for ART programs were evaluated.

The long-term effects of progesterone-only contraceptives on endometrium and ovary in rats.

Progestin-only (p-only) contraceptives often cause breakthrough bleeding for unknown reasons. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of p-only contraceptives to gain a better understanding of breakthrough bleeding mechanism. Wistar rats were divided into etonorgesterel implant (Group 1, n = 25), depot medroxyprogesterone acetate injectable (Group 2, n = 25), and control groups (n = 5).

Plasma visfatin levels in preeclamptic and normal pregnancies.

Objective: Increasing evidences support the participation of adipokines in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE). Visfatin is a novel adipokine secreted by fat tissue and macrophages and is involved in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. Our aim is to investigate visfatin levels in women with PE, women with the third trimester of normal pregnancy and healthy non-pregnant women.

Immunohistochemical expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in endometrial polyps and its relationship to clinical parameters.

Objective: To investigate the differences in steroid receptor expression patterns between glandular and stromal portions in endometrial polyps among premenopausal and postmenopausal patients and the relationship between the receptor expression in endometrial polyps and clinical parameters.

Materials And Methods: A total of 25 postmenopausal and 25 premenopausal patients with solitary endometrial polyp detected by office hysteroscopy were involved in the study. All patients underwent hysteroscopic polypectomy under general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia.

Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in umbilical and placental vascular tissue of gestational diabetic and normal pregnancies.

Objective: Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), a marker of endothelial dysfunction leading to damaging vascular disorders, in umbilical and placental vascular tissue of gestational pregnancies was compared to non-diabetic controls.

Methods: We included 32 pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and 28 women with normal ongoing pregnancies were taken as the control group. Pregnant women with GDM were selected from the ones who had glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) values lower from 6%.

The effects of betamethasone treatment on clinical and laboratory features of pregnant women with HELLP syndrome.

Aim: The present study aims to investigate the effects of betamethasone treatment on clinical outcome and laboratory data of pregnant women diagnosed with HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count) syndrome.

Methods: A prospective, randomized and placebo-controlled clinical trial was undertaken in a total of 60 pregnant women with HELLP syndrome who were treated at the perinatology department of the study center between January 2005 and February 2008. Betamethasone treatment (intramuscular injection of 12 mg in every 24 h) was given to 30 subjects while remaining 30 subjects received placebo.

The value of vascular endothelial growth factor, pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A, and progesterone for early differentiation of ectopic pregnancies, normal intrauterine pregnancies, and spontaneous miscarriages.

Objective: To evaluate the capacity of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), and progesterone (P) to discriminate ectopic pregnancies (EP) from nonectopic ones.

Design: Prospective, case-controlled study.

Setting: Tertiary care center.

Neurokinin B levels in maternal and umbilical cord blood in preeclamptic and normal pregnancies.

Neurokinin (NK) B has been recently demonstrated to be secreted by the placenta in preeclampsia suggesting it may modulate pathophysiological events of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether NKB is the circulating factor associated with preeclampsia or not. In 22 preeclamptic and normotensive pregnant women, the peripheral and umbilical cord blood NKB levels were measured by radioimmunoassay.

A soluble molecule secreted by human blastocysts modulates regulation of HOXA10 expression in an epithelial endometrial cell line.

Objective: To determine the existence of a soluble signal, secreted from the human blastocyst embryo, that induces HOXA10 gene expression before cell-cell contact.

Design: To analyze, by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), cell-free media that had contained human embryos cultured to the blastocyst stage for a soluble molecule that induces HOXA10 expression in an endometrial epithelial cell line (Ishikawa).

Setting: Assisted reproduction technology program of Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.