Gonadotropin Therapy versus Laparoscopic Ovarian Drilling in Clomiphene Citrate-Resistant Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Patients: A Retrospective Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

Background: Gonadotropin therapy and laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD) are treatment options for ovulation induction (OI) in clomiphene citrate (CC)-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients. The current evidence of the cost-effectiveness of both treatments is scarce, conflicting and performed from different health-economic perspectives.

Methods: A retrospective health-economic evaluation was performed from a societal perspective in which human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) therapy (n = 43) was compared with LOD (n = 35), followed by OI with CC and/or hMG if spontaneous ovulation did not occur within 2 months.

The history of Belgian assisted reproduction technology cycle registration and control: a case study in reducing the incidence of multiple pregnancy.

Study Question: What is the effect of a legal limitation of the number of embryos that can be transferred in an assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycle on the multiple delivery rate?

Summary Answer: The Belgian national register shows that the introduction of reimbursement of ART laboratory costs in July 2003, and the imposition of a legal limitation of the number of embryos transferred in the same year, were associated with a >50% reduction of the multiple pregnancy rate from 27 to 11% between 2003 and the last assessment in 2010, without any reduction of the pregnancy rate per cycle.

What Is Known Already: Individual Belgian IVF centres have published their results since the implementation of the law, and these show a decrease in the multiple pregnancy rate on a centre by centre basis. However, the overall national picture remains unpublished.

Evidence-based reproductive medicine: a critical appraisal.

Evidence-based medicine has become the golden standard of good medical practice. I analysed meta-analyses and systematic reviews, the cornerstones of evidence-based medicine, pertaining to two important problems in in vitro fertilization: failed implantation and poor ovarian response to ovarian stimulation. Numerous interventions and procedures have been tried to facilitate implantation and to enhance the ovarian response to stimulation.

Hormonal anticonception anno 2013: a clinician's view.

Hormonal contraception has recently drawn the attention of both national and international Health Organizations mainly because of new data on the risk of venous and arterial thrombosis. This has, fortunately, not led to a 'pill scare' as happened in 1996 when controversy arose with respect to the thrombotic risk of third versus second -generation pills. This time, evidence on the thrombotic risk of pills with the newer progestogens is gathering, -leading to a re-evaluation of guidelines.

A private matter: how patients decide what to do with cryopreserved embryos after infertility treatment.

This study describes patients' satisfaction with the information they received regarding the disposition of supernumerary embryos in the context of their decision making, as well as partners' roles and the involvement of others. An anonymous mail questionnaire was sent to 412 female patients from the Department of Reproductive Medicine (Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium). The questionnaire had a response rate of 79%.