4D-HyCoSy performed in a reproductive center: retrospective analysis of pain perception, complications and spontaneous pregnancy rate after the technique.

OBJECTIVE: Nowadays 4D hysterosalpingocontrast sonography (4D-HyCoSy) represents a primary technique in the evaluation of tubal impairment, with a low rate of pain referred and complications related, but its role in increasing the chance of spontaneous clinical pregnancy in women in childbearing age is still debated. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective study of 359 women performed 4D-HyCoSy at Reproductive Physiopathology and Andrology Unit, Sandro Pertini Hospital, Rome, during the period 2018-2020. INCLUSION CRITERIA: women attending our IVF (in vitro fertilization) center with at least 1 year of infertility. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: female age over 43 years, previously known severe tubal infertility, suspected anovulation, and semen abnormalities. PRIMARY OUTCOME: evaluation of tubal patency, complications related to technique, and pain perception evaluated thanks to a 10-cm visual analogue scale (VAS) Scale. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: clinical pregnancy rate (PR) after the technique confronted between the group of women with bilateral tubal patency (group A) with the group of monolateral tubal patency (group B) within 30 days and between 30-180 days, and 180 days-1 year from the exam. Time to pregnancy (TTP) and other obstetrical outcomes were evaluated too. RESULTS: The average age of the study's population was 33.3 years. Mean duration of infertility was 2.1 years. Complication rate was 6.4%, and in any case the use of ephedrine was required. 182 (50.6%) women reported absence of pain during the exam (VAS scale value 0) and 131 (36.5%), reported mild pain experience (VAS scale value between 1-4). Spontaneous pregnancy rate was of 29.3% in group A and 30.3% in group B; time to pregnancy was 32 ± 14.7 days in group A and 35 ± 13.1 days in group B. The insurgence of a spontaneous pregnancy was significantly lower for both 4D-HyCosy sub-groups after 30 days following technique respect to 30-180 days and 180 days-1 year following the technique (both p-value < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We confirm that 4D-HyCoSy is a safe and user-friendly technique, used as first line assessment of tubal patency of women afferent to a reproductive center. We also reported a positive impact on spontaneous pregnancy rate in women performing 4D-HyCoSy, emphasized within the first following month. This mandatory technique for tubal investigation, has not only a function in the diagnostic assessment of female infertility, but also has a therapeutic role, in young women who desire a pregnancy, avoiding, in some cases, the need of IVF treatments and clinical risks linked, while saving medical and monetary resources.

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis with temporomandibular joint involvement: functional treatment.

AIM: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis is a disease that can involve the temporomandibular joint unilaterally or bilaterally causing specific malocclusions. CASE REPORT: This paper reports a case of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis in an 8-year-old male with unilateral involvement of the temporomandibular joint, with remarkable asymmetry of the left mandible and reduced left facial height. The management of the temporomandibular damage consisted in the treatment with an activator in order to help mandibular ramus growth with a subsequent enhancement in occlusion, masticatory function and profile. This treatment has several advantages and permits to correct the typical malocclusion exhibited by these patients, to improve the clinical signs of the disease and to obtain stability over time.

Change in condylar and mandibular morphology in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: Cone Beam volumetric imaging.

AIM: The aim of this study was to show the importance of Cone Beam Computerized Tomography (CBCT) to volumetrically quantify temporomandibular joint (TMJ) damage in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), measuring condylar and mandibular real volumes. Methods. Thirty-four children with temporomandibular involvement by JIA were observed by CBCT. Four were excluded because of several imaging noises. The mandible was isolated from others craniofacial structures; the whole mandibular volume and its components' volumes (condyle, ramus, emibody, emisymphysis on right side and on left side) has been calculated by a 3D volume rendering technique. Results. The results show a highly significant statistical difference between affected side volumetric values versus normal side volumetric values, above all on condyle region (P<0.01), while there was no statistical difference between right versus left side. Conclusion. The CBCT represents a huge improvement in understanding of the condyle and mandibular morphological changes, even in the early stages of the JIA. In children the JIA can lead to TMJ damage with facial development and growth alterations.

A familial case of popliteal pterygium syndrome.

Popliteal pterygium syndrome (PPS) is a rare malformation disorder characterized by autosomal dominant inheritance, highly variable expressivity and incomplete penetrance. The disorder is caused by the mutation of the IRF6 gene and the respective protein, which belongs to a family of nine transcription factors and is involved in the differentiation and proliferation of keratinocytes. Mutations in the IRF6 gene give rise to popliteal pterygium syndrome, Van Der Woude syndrome and nonsyndromic orofacial clefts. The anomalies from which affected patients suffer can be subdivided into alterations of the orofacial region, the musculoskeletal system and the genitals. Diagnosis is difficult, as is differential diagnosis, due to the variability of the manifestations. Prenatal diagnosis is possible by means of sequence analysis of the IRF6 gene in DNA extracted from the chorionic villus or amniotic fluid, or by means of intrauterine ultrasound. The prognosis is generally good, with normal mental development and the possibility to correct most of the alterations through targeted surgery. The case presented in this study involves two patients: a father and daughter who suffer from PPS, of whom the former was not diagnosed at birth. The two patients have undergone numerous operations over the years on various parts of the body and sequence analysis of the IRF6 gene, which revealed the presence of a mutation in the target site.

Malignant glial tumours: prognostic value of quantitative microscopy.

Nuclear and cell density features have been measured in 22 cases of glioblastoma divided into two groups according to their survival periods, i.e. less than 12 months or more than 12. The results have demonstrated that the logarithmic transformation of the following features show up statistically significant differences (p less than 0.05): mean of the logarithm of nuclear area, standard deviation of the logarithm of perimeter and standard deviation of the logarithm of the roundness factor. The standard deviation of the roundness factor has been shown to be another parameter with statistically significant differences between the two groups. Forward stepwise discriminant analysis was adopted in order to identify the quantitative features which contributed most significantly to discriminating between the two groups. The results suggested a combination of two features, i.e. the standard deviation of the logarithm of the roundness factor and the mean of the logarithm of the roundness factor. The comparison between actual and predicted categories showed 68.18% agreement: 7 out of 22 cases were allocated incorrectly by the computer. However, when a classification probability threshold was adopted, the 7 incorrectly allocated cases assumed an "intermediate" position between the two groups, in agreement with their survival.