Induced abortion: a four-year experience at a University Gynaecological Clinic in Greece.

The aim of this study was to estimate the percentage of women who asked for pregnancy termination as an alternative to using family planning. The reasons given for requesting termination were documented and evaluated. During a 4-year period, 663 women came to the Family Planning Department.

Headless spermatozoa in fertile men.

Headless or unucleated spermatozoa were evaluated in semen specimens of 52 fertile men in order to investigate the frequency and the percentage of this morphological abnormality and to estimate the probable correlation of the abnormality with other semen parameters, since there are no available data. The only sperm parameter which correlated with the number of headless spermatozoa was the number of micro round-headed spermatozoa (r= + 0.4432, P<0.

Asynchronous delivery of twins and triplets with an interval period ranging from 48 hours to 19 weeks.

Objective: To improve perinatal survival rates by prolonging the rest of the pregnancy after an abortion or extremely premature birth of one fetus in multiple pregnancies, especially in women with low fertility potential.

Methods: Following the expulsion of one fetus a cervical cerclage was applied to all patients. The placenta of the expelled fetus including a small portion of its cord after it was ligated close to the external os, was left in situ.

Do characteristic spermatozoal morphological abnormalities exist in patients who have undergone unilateral orchiectomy and preventive radiotherapy?

Design: We examined 16 men who had been subjected to unilateral orchiectomy owing to seminoma and to preventive radiotherapy, in order to investigate the morphologic abnormalities of the spermatozoa (headless and small-round-headedness) that may contribute to infertility.

Results: The same morphologic abnormalities of the head and neck found in the semen samples of fertile men were also found in the semen samples of the patients, albeit in higher percentages; the morphologic abnormalities of the tail in the semen samples of the patients were similar to those of the fertile men, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Conclusion: No specifically characteristic morphologic abnormalities of the spermatozoa were detected in men who were subjected to unilateral orchiectomy and to preventive radiotherapy in comparison with fertile men.

Thromboprophylaxis throughout pregnancy in women with previous history of recurrent miscarriages of unknown aetiology.

The purpose of this prospective preliminary clinical study was to assess the efficacy of thromboprophylaxis throughout pregnancy in women with a history of unexplained first trimester recurrent miscarriages. From the 53 patients originally assigned to the study 15 were excluded. The remaining 38 were treated with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH-natroparine calcium 0.

Leptin levels in maternal and cord serum: relationship with fetal development and placental weight.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the circulating levels of leptin in the maternal and cord serum correlate with the birthweight of the newborns and with the weight of the placenta.

Methods: In a population of 85 women from northern Greece who gave birth to an equal number of full-term infants, we calculated the concentration of leptin in the maternal serum as well as in the cord serum, right after delivery, by using an immunoradiometric assay. The correlation between these values, the maternal BMI before pregnancy and at the time of delivery, the neonatal BMI, Ponderal Index, and the placental weight was studied.

Factors that may predispose to rupture of tubal ectopic pregnancy.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to evaluate factors that may predispose to rupture of tubal ectopic pregnancy. The study included 99 cases of ectopic pregnancies that were treated during the 5-year period 1992-1996.

Results: It was found that: (1) tubal rupture is encountered more often in women with no history of ectopic pregnancy and in those who have full-term pregnancy, suggesting that ectopic pregnancy is less suspected in these women; (2) tubal rupture is encountered less often in lower age ectopic pregnancy; and (3) serum beta-hCG level does not predict tubal rupture.

Single high dose of local methotrexate for the management of relatively advanced ectopic pregnancies.

Objective: To evaluate the limits of the conservative management of relatively advanced ectopic pregnancies (EPs) with local methotrexate given at a higher than standard dose.

Design: Nonrandomized prospective study.

Setting: A tertiary teaching hospital and an affiliated infertility center.

Uterine artery Doppler velocimetry with leiomyomas.

The study was conducted to establish a correlation between Doppler velocimetry in relation to uterine weight in any phase of the menstrual cycle and symptoms in women who have leiomyomas. Doppler velocimetry was carried out on both uterine arteries in 18 pre-menopausal women and one post-menopausal woman prior to undergoing abdominal hysterectomy at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY and at Ioannina University Hospital. The t-test was used for statistical analysis.

The sperm deformity and multiple anomalies indices: are they reliable in the identification of fertile and infertile semen?

Design: Two new indices, the sperm deformity index and the multiple anomalies index, were evaluated in order to help identify fertile and infertile semen.

Results: It was found that only three out of 94 infertile men presented a sperm deformity index lower than the upper limits of normal. The sperm deformity index sensitivity and specificity were higher than those of the multiple anomalies index.

Evaluation of semen parameters in man with hyperprolactinemia induced by metoclopramide.

Hyperprolactinemia in man decreases libido and potency, but the few reports concerning its influence on spermatogenesis are contradictory. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of induced hyperprolactimemia on semen parameters. A total of 15 potentially fertile male volunteers, aged 28.

Transfusion-dependent homozygous beta-thalassaemia major: successful pregnancy in five cases.

beta-Thalassaemia major is a severe, transfusion-dependent anaemia that also causes infertility due to iron deposition to endocrine organs. Very few pregnancies have been reported among such patients. In this report we describe the evolution and successful outcome of pregnancy in 5 Greek women with beta-thalassaemia major.

Elevated umbilical erythropoietin levels during labor in newborns of smoking mothers.

Umbilical cord blood erythropoietin levels and hematocrit are significantly higher in smoking mothers than those nonsmoking ones. In addition, the incidence of newborns with low birthweight is higher in women who smoke. We conclude that in addition to other parameters, cord blood erythropoietin might be used as a valuable indicator of fetal distress in smokers.

Successful pregnancy after treatment of cervical pregnancy with methotrexate and curettage. A case report.

Cervical pregnancy was diagnosed in a nulliparous, 28-year-old woman who presented with intermittent vaginal spotting at 12 weeks of gestation. Sonographic evaluation revealed a cervical gestational sac with a fetus with cardiac activity. Methotrexate was instilled intraamniotically, followed by an intramuscular injection with folinic acid rescue.

Erythropoietin umbilical serum levels during labor in women with preeclampsia, diabetes, and preterm labor.

In this study we determine the erythropoietin levels and hematocrit in 22 women with preterm labor, 21 with insulin-dependent diabetes, 22 with preeclampsia, and 20 with normal gestation. The erythropoietin level was higher in the preeclamptic group than in the diabetic group compared with the normal and premature groups. There were no hypoxic fetuses.

Maternal indomethacin therapy in the treatment of polyhydramnios.

Fifteen patients with polyhydramnios and clinical symptoms related to excess amniotic fluid volume were treated with indomethacin therapy that was started at a mean gestational age of 27.4 +/- 2.79 weeks and discontinued at a mean gestational age of 32.