Regression of endometrial autografts in a rat model of endometriosis treated with etanercept.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy (etanercept) for treating endometriosis in the rat endometriosis model.

Study Design: A randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded study using rat endometriosis model. After the peritoneal implantation of endometrial tissue, twenty-eight Wistar female rats were randomized to two equal intervention groups: the control group and the etanercept-treated group.

Abdominal and pelvic hydatid cyst obstructing the labor.

Hydatid cystic disease is a parasitic disease primarily infesting the sheep and cattle. It is a rare condition in pregnancy with an incidence of 1/20000 pregnancies. An eighteen-year-old primigravida was evaluated due to obstructed labor.

Predictive value of middle cerebral artery to uterine artery pulsatility index ratio in preeclampsia.

Objective: To determine the predictive value of middle cerebral artery (MCA) to uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) ratio in preeclamptic patients.

Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was performed on 64 preeclamptic and 131 normal pregnancies at or beyond 26 weeks of gestation between June 2007-August 2008 in the high-risk pregnancy unit of Dr. Zekai Tahir Burak Women Health Teaching and Research Hospital, Ankara.

Efficacy of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy on endometriosis in an experimental rat model.

Objective: To show the efficacy of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy (etanercept) for treating endometriosis in an experimental model.

Design: A randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded study using rat endometriosis model.

Setting: Experimental research center of Ankara Education and Research Hospital.

Cord entanglement in monochorionic monoamniotic twins.

Monochorionic monoamniotic twin gestations have been associated with perinatal mortality rates as high as 28% to 47%. Umbilical cord entanglements and knots, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, congenital anomalies, prematurity and intertwin locking during labor are responsible for their high perinatal morbidity and mortality. We report here two cases of cord entanglements: One of them was associated with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome with gross vascular anastomoses and a massive cord entanglement.

Plasma visfatin levels in preeclamptic and normal pregnancies.

Objective: Increasing evidences support the participation of adipokines in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE). Visfatin is a novel adipokine secreted by fat tissue and macrophages and is involved in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. Our aim is to investigate visfatin levels in women with PE, women with the third trimester of normal pregnancy and healthy non-pregnant women.

Immunohistochemical expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in endometrial polyps and its relationship to clinical parameters.

Objective: To investigate the differences in steroid receptor expression patterns between glandular and stromal portions in endometrial polyps among premenopausal and postmenopausal patients and the relationship between the receptor expression in endometrial polyps and clinical parameters.

Materials And Methods: A total of 25 postmenopausal and 25 premenopausal patients with solitary endometrial polyp detected by office hysteroscopy were involved in the study. All patients underwent hysteroscopic polypectomy under general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia.

Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in umbilical and placental vascular tissue of gestational diabetic and normal pregnancies.

Objective: Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), a marker of endothelial dysfunction leading to damaging vascular disorders, in umbilical and placental vascular tissue of gestational pregnancies was compared to non-diabetic controls.

Methods: We included 32 pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and 28 women with normal ongoing pregnancies were taken as the control group. Pregnant women with GDM were selected from the ones who had glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) values lower from 6%.

Neurokinin B levels in maternal and umbilical cord blood in preeclamptic and normal pregnancies.

Neurokinin (NK) B has been recently demonstrated to be secreted by the placenta in preeclampsia suggesting it may modulate pathophysiological events of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether NKB is the circulating factor associated with preeclampsia or not. In 22 preeclamptic and normotensive pregnant women, the peripheral and umbilical cord blood NKB levels were measured by radioimmunoassay.