Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is not associated with recurrent miscarriage.

AIM(S): The present study aimed to discover whether there is an association between thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) antigen levels and recurrent miscarriage (RM). In particular, TAFI antigen levels of women with RM were compared with those of a control group of women with previous uncomplicated pregnancies. METHOD(S): Group 1 comprised 48 women with RM, defined as the occurrence of two or more fetal losses before 20 weeks of gestation. Group 2 (the control group) was made up of 40 women who had undergone at least two healthy pregnancies and had no history of miscarriage. Group 1 was then stratified in to two groups according to the number of pregnancy losses and group 1A (2 pregnancy losses) consisted of 22 women whereas group 1B (three or more pregnancy losses) consisted of 26 women. RESULTS: No difference was observed with regard to serum TAFI antigen levels between groups 1 and 2. There was also no statistical difference in serum TAFI antigen levels between group 1A and group 1B. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current study indicated that TAFI antigen levels are not associated with RM. Further multi-centric research with more subjects is needed to better evaluate the role of TAFI in RM.

The attitudes of menopausal women and their spouses towards menopause.

OBJECTIVE: Menopausal experience and symptom reporting of the women was reported to be affected by their attitudes to menopause which in turn is influenced by a range of variables. In this study, we primarily tried to investigate the attitudes of women and their spouses towards menopause. The other aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between menopausal attitudes and menopausal symptom experience, depression and anxiety scores of the participants. METHOD: The sample included 60 physiological menopausal women and their spouses. Socio-demographic data were obtained with a questionnaire. The menopausal symptoms were measured through the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS). The women and their spouses were administered the Attitudes Towards Menopause Scale (ATMS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). RESULTS: Both the menopausal women and their spouses had a positive attitude towards menopause. The women had a mean total score of 16.36 +/- 7.62 on MRS (moderate). The mean somatic, psychological and urogenital sub-scores of MRS were 6.43 +/- 3.23 (moderate), 5.97 +/- 3.33 (moderate), and 3.93 +/- 2.77 (moderate), respectively. There were no significant differences in BDI scores between the women and their spouses. However, the scores of BAI were more likely to be higher in women than their spouses (p < 0.0001). The current study revealed a significant positive correlation between MRS scores and BAI and BDI scores of the women. A significant negative correlation was found with the scores of ATMS, and scores of MRS in women. The scores of ATMS in men were significantly and negatively correlated with the total, somatic, and urogenital subscale scores of MRS in women. CONCLUSION: The main finding of this study was that both the menopausal women and their spouses had a positive attitude towards menopause. We also found that, the women who had more negative attitudes towards menopause reported more severe menopausal symptoms. Our results also demonstrated that the severity of menopausal complaints might be related to the attitudes of the husbands towards menopause.

Rectal cancer in pregnancy: a case report.

Rectal cancer in pregnancy is a rare but a life-threatening disease. This paper presents a case of rectal cancer in pregnancy, discussed in light of the literature.

Papillary serous adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: a case report.

Papillary serous adenocarcinoma of the endocervix (PSAE) is a rarely encountered neoplasm. The literature includes only a limited number of well documented case studies. The present study reports a case of papillary serous adenocarcinoma originating from the endocervix.

The effect of low-dose combined oral contraceptive containing 100 ug levonorgestrel on plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 concentrations.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of a combined oral contraceptive (COC) containing 20 ug ethinyl estradiol (EE) and 100 ug levonorgestrel (LNG) which is currently used on plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) concentrations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-five women who had not used any COC for at least three months before the initiation of the study were enrolled in the control group. Twenty women who had been using COC containing 20 ug EE and 100 ug levonorgestrel LNG for at least three months prior to the study were enrolled in the LNG/EE group. Serum samples for PAI-1 and other biochemical parameters were obtained at the early follicular phase (cycle day 2-5). RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in PAl- 1 concentrations between the LNG/EE and control group (group LNG/EE: 62.4 +/- 30.2 ng/ml; control group: 58.7 +/- 26.0 ng/ml). CONCLUSION: Although we observed similar PAI-1 concentrations in both groups, there is need for further interventions to evaluate the clinical relevance of our findings.

Lost intrauterine contraceptive device inserted 42 years before: a case report.

OBJECTIVE: The management of a lost abdominal intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD) is discussed together with a review of the relevant literature. THE CASE: The IUD is one of the most commonly used, effective, cheap and safe methods of contraception in Turkey. However, IUD insertion may result in uterine perforation which may lead to a variety of abdominal complications or can remain asymptomatic in the abdomen for a long time without causing any complications. An asymptomatic case of a woman with an IUD inserted 42 years before is presented. To the best of our knowledge this is the longest time an IUD (found by X-ray) has been localized in the abdomen. CONCLUSION: We suggest that in asymptomatic patients with an IUD localized in the abdomen, the risks of both operating and not operating should be discussed thoroughly and in such cases, follow-up without surgery may be considered as an alternative approach.