Effectiveness of magnesium pidolate in the prophylactic treatment of primary dysmenorrhea.

To evaluate Magnesium (Mg) effectiveness in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea, 30 volunteer dysmenorrheic women of mean age 22.6 years were selected from the out-patients of the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Parma during the period January-December 1989. Patients affected by secondary dysmenorrhea were excluded from the trial. The women considered were asked to self-evaluate their menstrual pain for 6 subsequent cycles using the VAS (Visual Analogue Scale). In the first cycle, as control, no drug was administered; in the following ones, every woman was given 4.5 mg oral Mg Pidolate in 3 administrations daily, from the 7th day preceding the onset of menses till the 3rd day of menstruation. Data were statistically analyzed. In Mg-treated cycles compared with the control one, first day dysmenorrhea progressively decreased, with a significant drop (p < 0.05) from the 1st to the 6th cycle. A similar trend, but not statistically significant, was seen for the 2nd and 3rd day of cycle. No side effect was remarked. These data suggest Mg administration to be a reliable therapy of primary dysmenorrhea.

Glucose tolerance and insulin release in adolescent female.

The increase in insulin requirement at the onset of adolescence is compensated by an increase of insulin secretion. This metabolic pattern persists during adolescence but is no longer present in adults. It is supposed to depend on a decrease of insulin sensitivity of uncertain origin. We compared the metabolic pattern of late adolescent girls (13-16 year old) with young women (21-30 year old) with similar body mass indexes, testing subjects with iv glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) (glucose 0.33 g/kg) and arginine test (ATT) (arginine 30 g in 30 min). In late adolescent vs adult women we observed: i) IVTT: similar k of glucose tolerance and higher insulin and C-peptide responses; ii) ATT: unmodified plasma glucose, insulin and glucagon values, higher GH plasma levels; iii) in adolescent girls GH and CPR incremental areas significantly correlated (r = 0.755, p less than 0.05). These data show that: i) the adolescent pattern of glucose metabolism persists after completion of sexual development and, ii) there is a positive correlation between GH response to arginine and beta-cell response to glucose. So GH should play a role in the impairment of glucose metabolism during adolescence.

Uterus didelphys with an obstructed hemivagina and ipsilateral renal agenesis in teenagers: report of three cases.

Gynecologic and urinary congenital malformations are often associated and mostly diagnosed in teenagers. To update a 116-case international case registry, three cases of uterus didelphys with obstructed hemivagina and ipsilateral renal agenesis, detected in young girls, are reported. Diagnostic procedures and surgical treatment are discussed.

[Effects of body weight changes on menarche and menstrual cycles in a group of adolescents]. / Effetti delle variazioni ponderali sul menarca e sulla ciclicità mestruale in un gruppo di adolescenti.

In Italian girls (7-17 years-old) the effects of body weight on the onset of menarche and on menstruation were studied on the basis of measurements performed in 86 normally developed healthy girls (group 1), in 5 girls affected by precocious puberty (group 2), and in 9 girls with delayed puberty (group 3). Height and weight were evaluated at menarche in all groups, as well as 2 years later in groups 2 and 3. The results were transferred on the graphs proposed by Frisch for the American girls: at menarche 20% of group 1 girls were out of range; in group 2 all girls were in range; 33% of group 3 were below the 10th percentile. Two years later, all groups 2 and 3 girls but one were in range. These data do not confirm the role of body fat in determining the onset of the puberal process, while they support it in the maintenance of menses.

Human reproduction and a D.D.D. (determination, differentiation, development) pathogenetical classification of genital anomalies in phenotypic females.

Analysing 90 cases of different genital anomalies in phenotypic females a new pathogenetical classification is presented. The different anomalies are classified in 5 groups of disorders in the steps of genital development: gonadal determination, differentiation and development, genital ducts differentiation and development. Symptoms in reproductive age, diagnostic approach and therapeutic possibilities with particular attention to assisted reproduction are presented.

Endocrine abortion in assisted reproduction technologies (ART).

Luteal function, endometrial receptivity, endometrial prolactin and glycoprotein secretions, blastocyst-secreted immunomodulant factors and embryo quality are nowadays considered the main determinants involved in embryo implantation control. The endometrial factors are progesterone-dependent. Out of 128 cycles of ART (AIH-IU, GIFT, IVF-ET), performed in 67 women at the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Parma during the period 1986-1991, 31 conceptions were obtained (pregnancy rate: 24.21%), 7 of which miscarried (abortion rate: 22.58%). According to these data, ART high abortion rate is possibly connected with poor luteo-endometrial function and poor embryo quality. Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation is thought to inhibit embryo implantation after IVF-ET by decreasing endometrial receptivity. Such a situation can be treated either by exogenous progesterone administration or by tubal techniques (GIFT, TET) performed in non-tubal infertility. Both strategies showed to better endometrial receptivity. A delayed intrauterine embryo transfer at blastocyst stage, when cocultures allow to, is supposed to raise the implantation rate in tubal infertility by enhancing embryo selection and endometrial receptivity. This paper also reports preliminarily on the predictive value of beta-HGC and estradiol levels, as well as of endometrial thickness, on early pregnancy outcome.