Validation of an ex vivo human cervical tissue model for optical imaging studies.

Objective: To establish and validate an ex vivo human cervical tissue model for optical coherence tomography (OCT) studies with special emphasis on investigating time dependent structural changes of the epithelium.

Methods: Four hundred OCT images were taken from 80 unsuspicious and suspicious areas of 18 fresh conisation specimens immediately after resection (0 hour) and 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours, referred to as waiting times in the following, postoperatively and compared to the corresponding histology. For each 2D-OCT-image, a 1D-intensity profile was generated.

Optical coherence tomography for the diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

Background And Objectives: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) permits high-resolution imaging of tissue subsurfaces up to 2 mm in depth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of OCT in the characterization of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and to distinguish between different CIN grades.

Study Design/materials And Methods: Colposcopy-guided OCT images were taken from unsuspicious and suspicious areas in women with suspected CIN.

[Optical coherence tomography: preliminary results with a new noninvasive technique for evaluating uterine cervical tissue and vulvar epithelium].

Aim: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive diagnostic imaging technique that captures high-definition real-time images at near-microscopic resolution (1-2 mm below the surface) of biological tissue morphology. The aim of this study was to define the characteristics of uterine cervical and vulvar pathologies by means of OCT and to compare OCT findings versus histopathological features.

Materials And Methods: This prospective single-center study was approved by the regional ethical committee.

Sirolimus-associated infertility: case report and literature review of possible mechanisms.

The mammalian-target-of-rapamycin/mTOR-inhibitor sirolimus as a component of the immunosuppressive strategy after solid organ transplantation is effective at preventing allograft rejection. However, recent reports indicate that sirolimus is associated with altered sex hormone levels and impaired sperm quality parameters. Herein, we report on a case of sirolimus-associated infertility in a young male heart-lung transplant recipient and provide a detailed synopsis of potential mechanisms by which sirolimus may negatively influence spermatogenesis.

Induction of spermatogenesis by recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (puregon) in hypogonadotropic azoospermic men who failed to respond to human chorionic gonadotropin alone.

A multicenter, open-label, randomized efficacy and safety study was performed with combined human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (recFSH) (Puregon(R)) treatment to induce spermatogenesis in hypogonadotropic hypogonadal male patients. Patients were pretreated for 16 weeks with hCG to normalize testosterone levels. A total of 30 of 49 (61%) subjects had normalized testosterone levels but were still azoospermic after the hCG-alone phase.