Morphology of vitrified/warmed day-5 embryos predicts rates of implantation, pregnancy and live birth.

Although some post-thaw morphological predictors of pregnancy have been investigated in slow freezing of blastocysts, no such data have been published for vitrified and warmed blastocysts. Therefore, a prospective four-part score was applied to vitrified/warmed day-5 embryos to evaluate whether certain morphological parameters could serve as predictors of implantation, pregnancy and live birth. All morulae/blastocysts that were considered to be viable after warming were scored according to a previously unpublished grading system based on re-expansion, hatching (out of an artificial gap in the zona pellucida), extensive cytoplasmic granulation and presence of necrotic foci.

[Multiple pregnancies after ART: problems and possible solutions].

Multiple pregnancies following an assisted reproduction technique (ART) should be seen as a complication, and for that reason they should be avoided. In contrast to singleton pregnancies following ART, the multiple pregnancies are associated with a higher prenatal, neonatal and maternal risk; furthermore this results in a financial burden for the health care system. This paper gives an overview of the latest literature and different attempts of European countries, trying to reduce the multiple pregnancy rate.

Efficacy, acceptability and tolerability of the combined contraceptive ring, NuvaRing, compared with an oral contraceptive containing 30 microg of ethinyl estradiol and 3 mg of drospirenone.

Purpose: This randomized multicenter, open-label, trial compared efficacy, acceptability, tolerability and compliance of NuvaRing with a combined oral contraceptive (COC), containing 30 microg of ethinyl estradiol (EE) and 3 mg of drospirenone.

Method: In this 13-cycle study, 983 women were randomized and treated (intent-to-treat population) with NuvaRing or COC.

Results: One in-treatment pregnancy occurred with NuvaRing (Pearl Index=0.

Contraceptive efficacy, compliance and beyond: factors related to satisfaction with once-weekly transdermal compared with oral contraception.

Objective: To investigate contraceptive efficacy, compliance and user's satisfaction with transdermal versus oral contraception (OC).

Study Design: Randomized, open-label, parallel-group trial conducted at 65 centers in Europe and South Africa. One thousand four hundred and eighty-nine women received a contraceptive patch (n = 846) or an OC (n = 643) for 6 or 13 cycles.

[Significance of thyroid function in the treatment of sterility].

Latent subclinical hypothyroidism represents a particular problem in treatment for sterility, and can only be diagnosed after the results of a TRH test have been obtained (delta TSH > 15 microE/ml). Bearing these results in mind and by the administration of thyroid gland hormones or combinations of gonadotropins or clomifen, pregnancy rates in women with anovulatory sterility can be improved.