Investigating the efficacy of ultrasound-guided ethanol retention technique for endometrioma sclerotherapy and its effect on pro-inflammatory cytokine levels: A single-arm clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting about 10% of women of reproductive age. Endometrioma is the most common presentation of endometriosis in ovaries. OBJECTIVES: Herein, the authors study the effect of the ultrasound-guided ethanol retention technique for endometrioma sclerotherapy and its effect on the plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Each endometrioma was aspirated and washed with 0.9% saline until clearance and then 2/3 of the cyst volume was filled with ethanol 98%. Patients were followed for 3 months. After that, changes in their cyst diameter, dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, and antral follicular count were assessed. Also, the sera levels of Interleukin 1ß (IL-ß), IL-6, and IL-8 were assayed before and after the treatment. The primary sera levels were also compared with a control group. RESULTS: In the treatment and control groups, 23 and 25 individuals (respectively) with a matched mean age (p-value = 0.680) were enrolled in the study. Among the laboratory variables, IL-1ß (p-value = 0.035), as well as AMH (p-value = 0.002), were lower, and IL-6 (p-value = 0.011) was higher in the endometriosis group compared to the controls. Following the treatment, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and the mean diameter of all cysts were significantly (p-values < 0.001) decreased in the treatment group. Also, right (p-value = 0.022) and left (p-value = 0.002) ovaries' antral follicular counts were increased following the treatment. No significant change was found among any of the investigated laboratory levels (p-value > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Ethanol retention method is proven to be safe and could improve the clinical status of patients with endometrioma. Although further studies are necessary.

Evaluation of intra-ovarian platelet-rich plasma administration on oocytes-dependent variables in patients with poor ovarian response: A retrospective study according to the POSEIDON criteria.

BACKGROUND: Poor ovarian response (POR) is among the common findings in infertile women with no significant underlying condition. The aim of this study was to investigate the intra-ovarian potential of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) administration on oocytes-dependent variables in the POR women grouped according to the POSEIDON criteria. METHODS: This retrospective study was performed on POR women with no underlying condition who have undergone intra-ovarian PRP injection. As well as patients' age, the number of total and MI, MII, and GV oocytes were extracted from the files. The laboratory variables including anti-mullerian hormone (AMH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and estradiol were also gathered. In order to reduce any bias due to the possible differences in kits or devices, a single laboratory with the highest number of cases was selected and others were excluded from the study. Then, the included cases were grouped into four according to the POSEIDON criteria and analyzed for the mentioned variables by SPSS, version 25. The statistical significance level was set as P-value < 0.05. RESULTS: From 383 cases, a total number of 96 women were enrolled in this study. According to the POSEIDON criteria, group 4 (Age ≥ 35 years, AMH < 1.2 ng/mL) with the ratio of 56/96 (58.3%) had the highest prevalence among others. As the analyses showed, changes in the laboratory variables (LH, FSH, AMH, and estradiol) were not significant in almost all the groups following the intervention. Regarding the total oocytes number, PRP administration caused a significant increase in the total number in all the groups (all P < 0.05). Also, the number of MII oocytes was significantly increased following the treatment in all groups except for group 2 (Age ≥ 35 years, AMH ≥ 1.2 ng/mL; all P < 0.05). Of 96 cases, 14 (14.6%) got clinically pregnant following assisted reproductive techniques which this number were significantly differed among the groups (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: This study showed that PRP treatment was effective on total and MII oocyte numbers in the patients with POR, however, further studies are required.

Migration of intrauterine device caused asymptomatic acute appendicitis: A case report.

Missing of IUD is not always due to expulsion. If the patient is sure that it has not got expulsed, further investigations such as abdominal ultrasound and X-ray should be performed to look for the device before any device-related complications.

Antibiotics, Inflammation, and Preterm Labor: A Missed Conclusion.

Regarding the risk of antibiotic therapy during pregnancy, any medication given to the mother should be according to the indications due to the risk of possible side effects. Antibiotics are one of the most important groups of these medications to be considered. Along with direct antibiotic-induced side effects, indirect pathways also affect the fetus through the maternal changes. According to the data, different cytokines including interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are involved in both term and preterm parturition. These cytokines could trigger expression of different substances such as prostaglandins (PGs), their receptors, and PGs synthetizing molecules with already proven roles in parturition. Moreover, IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α knocked-out mice have delayed parturition and lower levels of PGs compared to the wild types. The earlier-mentioned cytokines are able to induce matrix metalloproteinases and are also involved in parturition. Certain antibiotics have been shown capable of inducing inflammation cascade directly. Both in-vivo and in-vitro studies in human have also demonstrated this inflammation as elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines especially IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α. This increase has been observed both in the presence and the absence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Moreover, antibiotics can induce endotoxemia in healthy cases which finally leads to the pro-inflammatory cytokine release. Regarding the role of mentioned pro-inflammatory cytokines in both term and preterm parturition, it seems that non-indicated use of antibiotics during pregnancy may increase the risk of preterm labor.

Autologous amniotic membrane: An accelerator of wound healing for prevention of surgical site infections following Cesarean delivery.

Cesarean delivery (CD) has been known as the most common surgery in the United States. This procedure might associate with different complications, the most important of which is surgical site infection (SSI). Among the major SSI categories, incisional type is more common than the others. Regardless of its notable expense, the use of prophylactic wound healing technics (such as negative pressure therapy) has been advised for the patients with high SSI risk. Herein, use of patient's own human amniotic membrane in an autologous form (as a free of charge treatment) would be suggested for prevention of SSI in CD wounds. Human amniotic membrane (hAM) has been used for treatment of acute and chronic wounds and shown to be able to reduce the infection and the pain along with accelerating the healing process. Moreover, it has been shown in a systematic review and meta-analysis that hAM could significantly improve the treatment rate in comparison to the standard of care dressing (RR 2.057-3.665, P < 0.001) during a set time of six weeks. Wound duration on the other hand, has been shown to negatively associate with SSI. Furthermore, there is data supporting the critical role of tissue perfusion in the acceleration of wound healing along with decreasing the rate of wound infection. Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from their existing capillaries, is among the most crucial pathways involved in increasing tissue perfusion and wound healing. Interestingly, hAM is a rich source of pro-angiogenic and other tissue growth factors with the ability of inducing angiogenesis as well as strong antibacterial peptides. Taken together, authors suggest autologous application of hAM in the high (even low) risk patients undergoing CD in order to decrease wound related complications such as SSI and accelerate the healing time as a free wound healer. However, further randomized clinical trials are necessary.