Sonographic Findings of a Gynecological Cause of Acute Pelvic Pain - A Systematic Review.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to use ultrasonographic data to rule out and distinguish diseases that cause acute pelvic pain. Material and method: The literature was reviewed using a systematic search of the databases Google Scholars and PubMed, as well as through hand searching. We looked through a total of 35 articles, but only 26 were selected after preliminary screening. Furthermore, 14 articles were left out because they required a membership, copyright clearance, or featured non-English references. There were a total of 12 articles included in the final revuew. Among all the study-related articles, only original research studies and one systematic review that sonographically explored the gynecological etiology of acute pelvic pain were selected. Results: Acute pelvic pain in women might be difficult to identify between gynecologic and non-gynecologic causes based solely on patient history and examination. Advanced imaging, like ultrasound, aids in determining the reason. Pelvic inflammatory disease can be difficult to diagnose, and clinicians should use a low threshold for starting presumptive treatment in order to avoid significant long-term effects such as infertility. Conclusions: Pelvic pain can be acute, chronic or functional. Imaging investigations such as CT, ultrasonography, and MRI can assist in establishing a diagnosis. Particularly ultrasound scanning makes it possible to arrive at a diagnosis with a high degree of precision.

Identifying treatment options for BRAFV600 wild-type metastatic melanoma: A SU2C/MRA genomics-enabled clinical trial.

Although combination BRAF and MEK inhibitors are highly effective for the 40-50% of cutaneous metastatic melanomas harboring BRAFV600 mutations, targeted agents have been ineffective for BRAFV600wild-type (wt) metastatic melanomas. The SU2C Genomics-Enabled Medicine for Melanoma Trial utilized a Simon two-stage optimal design to assess whether comprehensive genomic profiling improves selection of molecular-based therapies for BRAFV600wt metastatic melanoma patients who had progressed on standard-of-care therapy, which may include immunotherapy. Of the response-evaluable patients, binimetinib was selected for 20 patients randomized to the genomics-enabled arm, and nine were treated on the alternate treatment arm. Response rates for 27 patients treated with targeted recommendations included one (4%) partial response, 18 (67%) with stable disease, and eight (30%) with progressive disease. Post-trial genomic and protein pathway activation mapping identified additional drug classes that may be considered for future studies. Our results highlight the complexity and heterogeneity of metastatic melanomas, as well as how the lack of response in this trial may be associated with limitations including monotherapy drug selection and the dearth of available single and combination molecularly-driven therapies to treat BRAFV600wt metastatic melanomas.

A randomized double-blind controlled study of the efficacy of laser-assisted hatching on implantation and pregnancy rates of frozen-thawed embryo transfer at the cleavage stage.

BACKGROUND: Assisted hatching (AH) in fresh embryo transfer (ET) cycles increases the implantation and pregnancy rates, especially in women with a poor prognosis, repeated implantation failures and in older women. Little information exists in the literature regarding the role of AH in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles. METHODS: Embryos were cryopreserved at the cleavage stage. On the day of FET, 160 patients were randomized according to a computer-generated randomization list in sealed envelopes into the AH group and the control group. The patients and the clinicians were blinded to the group assigned. In the AH group, the outer half of the zona pellucida over a quarter of the diameter of zona was removed using a 1480 nm non-contact laser. RESULTS: The two groups were comparable in terms of demographic characteristics, ovarian response of the stimulated cycle and quality of fresh and frozen-thawed embryos. No differences in implantation, pregnancy and multiple pregnancy rates were found between the two groups. There was a non-significant trend of a higher implantation rate in the AH group when the zona thickness was > or = 16 mm. CONCLUSION: Laser AH did not improve the implantation rate of FET cycles and should not be performed routinely in all frozen-thawed embryos at the cleavage stage.