The combined maternal administration of magnesium sulfate and aminophylline reduces intraventricular hemorrhage in very preterm neonates.

Objective: To determine whether the adjunctive administration of aminophylline and magnesium sulfate to mothers at risk for preterm birth can reduce the rate of intraventricular hemorrhage in neonates born at less than 30 weeks of gestation.

Study Design: A prospective study was conducted to determine whether the rate of intraventricular hemorrhage was different in patients at risk for preterm delivery treated with ritodrine, magnesium sulfate, aminophylline, and corticosteroids (group A) versus patients treated with ritodrine and corticosteroids (group B). During the study period (January 1996 to December 2001), 125 patients enrolled in the study.

Phytoestrogens may improve the pregnancy rate in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer cycles: a prospective, controlled, randomized trial.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of i.m. P and i.

Ovulation induction with urinary FSH or recombinant FSH in polycystic ovary syndrome patients: a prospective randomized analysis of cost-effectiveness.

The aim of this prospective, randomized trial was to compare the clinical results and the cost-effectiveness of urinary FSH (uFSH) and recombinant FSH (rFSH) in ovarian stimulation for intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients. One-hundred and seventy PCOS infertile patients undergoing IUI were enrolled, and protocols of ovarian stimulation with uFSH or rFSH were randomly assigned. The total number of cycles performed was 379 (182 and 197, respectively).

Endometrial effects of long-term treatment with phytoestrogens: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: To determine the effects of 5 years of treatment with soy phytoestrogens on histological characteristics of endometrium in postmenopausal women.

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Setting: Centre of Perinatal and Reproductive Medicine, Department of Gynecological, Obstetrical, and Pediatric Sciences, University of Perugia, Italy.

High dose of phytoestrogens can reverse the antiestrogenic effects of clomiphene citrate on the endometrium in patients undergoing intrauterine insemination: a randomized trial.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of clomiphene citrate (CC) alone or combined with phytoestrogens (PE) in ovulation induction in patients who had intrauterine insemination in a randomized, double-blind study.

Methods: A total of 134 women aged 25-35 years, who were infertile for at least 2 years and who had oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea associated with a positive menstrual response to the intramuscular progesterone-challenge test were enrolled. They were randomly treated with CC (100 mg daily for 5 days) and CC (100 mg daily for 5 days) in combination with PE (1500 mg daily for 10 days).

Effects of inositol on ovarian function and metabolic factors in women with PCOS: a randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Women with oligomenorrhea and polycystic ovaries show a high incidence of ovulation failure perhaps linked to insulin resistance and related metabolic features. A small number of reports shows that inositol improves ovarian function. Futhermore, in these trials the quality of evidence supporting ovulation is suboptimal, and few studies have been placebo-controlled.

Third-trimester maternal glucose levels from diurnal profiles in nondiabetic pregnancies: correlation with sonographic parameters of fetal growth.

Objective: To assess the 24-h glucose levels in a group of nondiabetic, nonobese pregnant women and to verify the presence of correlations between maternal glucose levels and sonographic parameters of fetal growth.

Research Design And Methods: A total of 66 Caucasian nonobese pregnant women with normal glucose challenge tests (GCT) enrolled in the study; from this population, we selected 51 women who delivered term (from 37 to 42 weeks completed) live-born infants without evidence of congenital malformations. The women were requested to have three main meals and to perform daily glucose profiles fortnightly from 28-38 weeks without modifying their lifestyle or following any dietary restriction.

Time course of recovery and complications of HELLP syndrome with two different treatments: heparin or dexamethasone.

HELLP syndrome is a severe complication of pregnancy characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, hepatic dysfunction and thrombocytopenia. Though delivery is the ultimate therapeutic option, medical treatments, including the use of heparin or corticosteroids, have been employed in the attempt to improve maternal prognosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the time course of recovery and the incidence of complications in women with HELLP syndrome receiving either heparin or dexamethasone.

Thyroid autoimmunity and its association with non-organ-specific antibodies and subclinical alterations of thyroid function in women with a history of pregnancy loss or preeclampsia.

Following the observation that non-organ-specific antibodies are related with pregnancy loss and preeclampsia, the role of organ-specific antibodies is currently being extensively investigated. The aim of this study was on the one hand to evaluate the incidence of antithyroid antibodies in a study group of 69 women with a history of early pregnancy loss (subgroup 1), foetal death (subgroup 2) or preeclampsia (subgroup 3) and in a control group, on the other hand to assess the possible association of these autoantibodies with non-organ-specific antibodies and subclinical alterations of thyroid function in the study group. Antithyroid antibodies were present in 26/69 (37.