Finding the balance between surgery and medically-assisted reproduction in women with deep infiltrating endometriosis.

Deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) affects several anatomical locations including the bladder, torus uterinum, uterosacral ligament, rectovaginal septum and bowel. It is the most debilitating form of endometriosis and causes severe pain, digestive and urinary symptoms as well as infertility. Faced with an infertile woman suffering from DIE, the dilemma is whether to opt for first-line IVF treatment or for surgery. In the absence of high-level of evidence from randomized studies, several factors should be taken into account in the decision-making process. The main criterion is whether the patient wants in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment or not. Secondly, while previous reports have demonstrated the positive impact of surgery on pregnancy, they also underline the risk of severe complications requiring management in expert centers. Despite the availability of predictive models or scoring systems, the decision mainly boils down to the couple's characteristics. It seems logical to propose first-line IVF when spontaneous fertility is not possible due to associated male infertility or tubal obstruction; for women aged ≥35 years; or in women with diminished ovarian reserve. Conversely, first-line surgery could be the best option for women without these characteristics. However, this strategy is mainly based on low-level of evidence underlining the requiring of randomized trials.

Low lactase activity in a small-bowel biopsy specimen: should dietary lactose intake be restricted in children with small intestinal mucosal damage?

OBJECTIVE: Small intestinal mucosal damage can result in decreased lactase activity (LA). When LA is low in a small-bowel biopsy (SBB) specimen, a reduction of dietary lactose intake is usually advised. This is often done by reducing dietary dairy products, which also reduces the intake of calcium, protein and vitamins. Since intestinal damage can have a patchy character and LA varies along the horizontal axis of the small intestine, the relevance of SBB measurement for intestinal LA could be questioned. We compared LA in the SBB with the in vivo capacity to digest lactose using the Lactose Digestion Index (LDI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: LA was measured in 18 children aged 0.8-10.9 years (mean 3.9, SD 2.4) undergoing SBB for various indications. In all children the LDI was determined using the (13)C-lactose/(2)H-glucose test. RESULTS: In 9/18 biopsy specimens LA was low (<10 U/g protein). LDI was normal in 14/18 patients. In 8 out of 9 patients with normal lactase activity, LDI was also normal, while in 6 out of 9 patients LDI was normal despite low LA in the biopsy. In patients with normal LDI, histology was normal in 6/14, in 4/14 mild histological changes (Marsh II) were seen and in 4 patients histological damage was severe (grade III). CONCLUSIONS: In children with small-bowel mucosal damage, lactose digestive capacity can remain high despite low LA and histological changes in an SBB. Extrapolation of LA in SBB specimens to overall lactose digestive capacity may not be reliable. The advice concerning the restriction of intake of dairy products cannot be based on the data of the SBB only.