Association Between Bowel Obstruction or Intussusception and Endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between endometriosis and bowel obstruction or intussusception using a large population database. METHODS: This was a population-based study using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-Nationwide Inpatient Sample (HCUP-NIS) from 2005 to 2014. We studied women aged 18 to 55 years without inflammatory bowel disease or cancer. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between endometriosis and bowel obstruction. RESULTS: Of the 18 427 520 women who met the criteria for inclusion, 96 539 had experienced bowel obstruction, for an overall prevalence of 52 per 10 000, and 3825 had experienced intussusception, for an overall prevalence of 2 per 10 000. When adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, women with pelvic endometriosis had a consistently higher likelihood of bowel obstruction (odds ratio [OR] 2.6; 95% confidendence interval [CI] 2.3-3.00, P <0.01). In particular, intestinal endometriosis was associated with a 14.6-fold increased risk of bowel obstruction (95% CI 11.4-18.8, P <0.01), while rectovaginal endometriosis was associated with a 2.00-fold increased risk (95% CI 1.5-2.6, P <0.01). Pelvic endometriosis was significantly associated with adhesive bowel obstruction (adjusted OR: 3.2; 95% CI 2.6-3.9) and non-adhesive bowel obstruction (adjusted OR 2.4; 95% CI 2.0-2.8). The rates of endometriosis among women with or without intussusception were comparable. CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic endometriosis, in particular rectovaginal and intestinal endometriosis is strongly associated with bowel obstruction, independent of the presence of intra-abdominal adhesions. We did not find any association between pelvic endometriosis and intussusception.

Revisiting serum ß-hCG cut-off levels and pregnancy outcomes using single embryo transfer.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to identify the pregnancy outcomes based on day-16 ß-hCG level assessed with modern assays, in fresh single embryo transfers. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study at a single academic center between 2013 and 2017. A total of 1076 pregnancies were included. RESULTS: Pregnancies were divided into 10% groupings of 107-108 patients each. The 10 groups did not differ for baseline characteristics. There was no difference on outcomes based on cleavage or blastocyst transfer. At a serum ß-hCG level of 103 ± 13 (range 74-135), 50% had a biochemical loss. Biochemical pregnancy losses remained 21% at serum ß-hCG range (136-197). It was only once serum ß-hCG level reached 199-252 that the probability of a biochemical pregnancy loss was 12%. Interestingly, if a clinical pregnancy is present even at low day-16 serum ß-hCG levels, the likelihood of live birth is approximately 50%. This maximizes to 75% when the serum ß-hCG level was at least 253 IU/L. The relationship between serum day-16 ß-hCG levels and clinical pregnancy or live birth is quite strong with correlation coefficients above 0.8 which accounted for more than 75% of the variability in outcomes in both cases. Receiver operator curves determined that the cut-off for a clinical pregnancy was 190 and for live birth, it was 213 IU/L. CONCLUSION: An increase in the serum ß-hCG levels at which to expect a reassuring outcome is required based on modern assays, as compared with the old cut-off levels.