Recovery of Chlamydia trachomatis from the endometria of women with unexplained infertility.

Fifty-two women with unexplained infertility and 55 controls with recently proved fertility were screened for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection in the blood and genital tract. Serum antibody titration was performed with indirect fluorescence. Cell cultures were performed to screen for CT in urethral and endocervical swabs, in endometrial samples taken without endocervical contamination and in salpingeal and/or peritoneal fluid samples.

Ectopic pregnancy and recurrent spontaneous abortion: two associated reproductive failures.

The association between spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy was evaluated in a case-control study conducted on 161 women (cases) with recurrent spontaneous abortions (two or more consecutive spontaneous abortions) and 170 control subjects who delivered normal infants. The risk of ectopic pregnancy in women with a history of recurrent spontaneous abortion was about fourfold that of controls (relative risk adjusted for age and number of pregnancies = 4.3; 95% confidence interval 1.

Increased frequency of complete hydatidiform mole in women with repeated abortion.

The association between spontaneous abortion and gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) has been investigated in a study based on 93 women with 2 consecutive (repeated) spontaneous abortions and 82 control subjects who delivered normal babies. Nine molar pregnancies were observed among 7 of the 93 cases of repeated abortion while no control reported previous GTD. This difference was statistically significant and was not explained by allowance for age and number of pregnancies between cases and controls (chi 2(1) = 4.

Short-term reproductive prognosis when no cause can be found for recurrent miscarriage.

The short-term reproductive prognosis of recurrent miscarriage for which no cause was found has been evaluated in 95 couples investigated between 1980 and 1986 at the First Obstetric and Gynaecological Clinic of the University of Milan. The actuarial overall 3-year livebirth delivery rate was 64%, increasing constantly with time. The reproductive success rate decreased with the number of previous miscarriages from 80% in women with two, to 60% with three and 46% with four or more miscarriages.

Communicating uteri: description and classification of a new type.

A case of bicornuate-bicervical communicating uterus with atresia of the right hemicervix is reported. This cannot be included in any of the nine groups of Toaff's classification of uterine malformations proposed in 1984, and should be classified as a new, tenth type.

Second-look hysteroscopy after conservative surgery of the uterus.

A hysteroscopic second look has been performed following sixteen intracavitary myomectomies, twenty-nine metroplasties and thirty-four intra-uterine adhesiolyses. This control has been performed three months after laparotomic operation and after forty-five days of sequential estro-progestogen treatment in cases of transcervical operation. The hysteroscopic second-look proved to be an excellent follow-up method after uterine conservative surgery and it avoids the use of X-rays, allows a detailed morphological evaluation of the uterine cavity and offers the possibility of complementary surgery, when necessary.

Intrauterine adhesions: current diagnostic and therapeutic trends.

In the period January 1981-December 1984, 31 cases of intrauterine adhesions (8 severe, 10 moderate and 13 minimal) were diagnosed at the First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Milan. This pathology had altered the menstrual function in 21 subjects and reproductive capacity in 27. Synecholysis was performed at hysteroscopy, followed by application of an IUD in 7 patients and sequential treatment with estrogens and progestins in 22.