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Biomedical subjects

E Cittadini

Publications and source records attributed to E Cittadini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Thanatophoric dysplasia in monozygotic twins discordant for cloverleaf skull: prenatal diagnosis, clinical and pathological findings.

We present male monozygotic twins with thanatophoric dysplasia (TD) type I concordant for long bone abnormalities and discordant for cloverleaf skull. The twins were the product of the second pregnancy of unrelated parents, with advanced paternal age. Prenatal diagnosis and postmortem examination showed severe rhizomelic shortness of limbs, bowing of the long bones with "telephone-receiver" femora in both twins, and cloverleaf skull and hydrocephalus in one of them. It is now accepted that most of cases of TD, such as in the present report, represent an autosomal dominant mutation with a high new mutations rate.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Heterotopic pregnancy associated with gamete intra-fallopian transfer.

Recent reports in the literature have focused on the increased risk of heterotopic pregnancy after the transfer of multiple concepti or oocytes. In an international collaborative patient registry between 1985 and 1989, 601 clinical pregnancies resulted from 2092 gamete intra-Fallopian transfer (GIFT) retrieval cycles. Five of the pregnancies were heterotopic (0.83%). After surgical intervention, all five cases of combined gestation resulted in live birth from intrauterine pregnancies. Routine vaginal ultrasonographic examination of the adnexa in patients who conceive after GIFT may help early diagnosis of heterotopic pregnancy. If the diagnosis is made early, conservative treatment may preserve the future fecundity of the patient and more intrauterine pregnancies may be salvaged.

Female↗
PubMed1989

Successful in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer after limited surgical treatment for tubal adenocarcinoma.

A 29-year-old woman with tubal adenocarcinoma stage IA was treated only with bilateral salpingectomy, pelvic lymphadenectomy, and omentectomy. Two years later the patient successfully underwent in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, and at 39 weeks gave birth to a healthy son by cesarean section. The result of oncologic follow-up 3 years after surgery is negative.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1988

Concomitant gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist and menotropin treatment for the synchronized induction of multiple follicles.

In an effort to overcome possible interference by endogenous gonadotropin-ovarian hormone dynamics, desensitization of the pituitary gonadotropins by a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) was achieved in 12 women with repeatedly failed attempts at multiple follicular stimulation. Eight women were scheduled for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer (ET), and 4 for gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT). Stimulation failure was characterized by premature luteinization, poor estradiol (E2) response, or inadequate follicular growth. The agonist was administered by nasal spray 500 to 600 micrograms/day beginning on days 21 to 23 of the menstrual cycle. A rapid desensitization occurred by 7.6 +/- 0.6 days (mean +/- standard error [SE]) following the initial dose. Gonadotropin stimulation was begun when pituitary and ovarian suppression was judged to be adequate. In response to gonadotropin stimulation, a continuous rise of E2 was observed in all patients with a mean of 989 +/- 46 pg/ml on the day of hCG. A cohort of synchronized follicles was recruited and matured. The mean number of growing follicles per patient was significantly higher (P less than 0.0001) in combined therapy than in previously failed cycles (8.0 +/- 0.3 versus 3.2 +/- 0.1). All the patients underwent oocyte retrieval and 94.3% of the harvested oocytes were preovulatory. A high fertilization rate (89.7%) of the inseminated oocytes occurred in IVF patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Successful gamete intrafallopian transfer following failed artificial insemination by donor: evidence for a defect in gamete transport?

Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) was offered as an alternative treatment to 48 women who failed to conceive after artificial insemination with donor semen (AID) in numerous attempts (9 to 24 cycles). The evaluation of these women showed no major cause of infertility as evidenced by normal endocrine, cervical, uterine, and tubal factor studies. Their partners were either azoospermic or severely oligoasthenospermic. During the GIFT cycle, follicular development was induced with (1) clomiphene citrate (days 3 to 7) plus human menopausal gonadotropins (hMG) from day 6 on or (2) human follicle-stimulating hormone (days 3 to 4) plus hMG (day 5 on), until ultrasound revealed 2 follicles 16 mm and serum estradiol (E2) was greater than 700 pg/ml. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) 10,000 IU was administered, and 36 hours later follicular aspiration was performed. One to three oocytes and 100,000 motile sperm were transferred to each fallopian tube through the fimbria via laparoscopy or minilaparotomy. Twenty-seven clinical pregnancies were achieved (56%) per GIFT cycle. Eight miscarriages occurred during the first trimester (29% of all pregnancies), whereas no ectopic pregnancies were observed. These data conclusively show the value of the GIFT procedure in the treatment of cases with failed AID.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

IVF/ET and GIFT in andrology.

Improvement in both in-vitro fertilization/embryo transfer (IVF/ET) and gamete intra-Fallopian transfer (GIFT) procedures have led to a progressive extension of their use far beyond the indications represented by tubal problems. One of the most important examples of this is in the field of male infertility. Some researchers claim that IVF/ET is more efficient on the basis of the 'fertilization evidence', while others prefer the GIFT technique, stressing that as its results are clearly so much better that it should be used in all cases.

Embryo Transfer↗
PubMed1987

Sludge and stones in gallbladder after pregnancy. Prevalence and risk factors.

The prevalence of sludge and stones in the gallbladder of 298 women in the immediate post-partum period was ultrasonographically assessed. We have investigated some risk factors for the development of sludge or stones in these patients and followed up most of these patients by ultrasonography to detect the presence of sludge and/or stones in the year following their discovery. We found sludge in 80 (26.2%) and gallstones in 16 (5.2%) of these patients. Age, obesity and months of oral contraceptive use were risk factors only for the presence of gallstones. After 1 year of follow-up only 2 out of 45 patients with sludge but 13 out of 15 patients with gallstones still had abnormal ultrasonographic findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Isolation of a histamine releasing factor from human embryo culture medium after in-vitro fertilization.

In-vitro fertilization (IVF) of human oocytes in our laboratories gave a percentage pregnancy rate per transfer close to 20% during 1985. Embryos were grown until the two-four cell stage and then transferred to the maternal uterus. The media from these embryo cultures were collected and subjected to chromatography on heparin-Sepharose affinity columns. The bound protein fraction contained a factor capable of inducing histamine release from sensitized basophils. The effect of this embryo-derived histamine-releasing factor (EHRF) was to induce a maximum 56 +/- 7% release of the total histamine available. This value varied between 20 and 60%, resulting from 10-30 micrograms/ml of EHRF. Since the histamine release assay performed with basophils from non-atopic donors gave no positive results, we conclude that the release was not due to a cytotoxic mechanism. This was also supported by the absence of histamine release when the assay was performed at 0 degree C, or in the presence of 2 mM EDTA, suggesting that release was dependent on an immunological interaction between EHRF and some receptor on the basophils. The immunosuppressive role of histamine is well known, and a model involving EHRF and histamine is suggested here to explain the mechanism mounted by the embryo to escape maternal immune rejection.

Culture Media↗
PubMed1986

Gamete intrafallopian transfer in the treatment of infertility: the first series at the University of Palermo.

Twenty-six couples with unexplained infertility (UI), nine women with repeated failures of artificial insemination with donor semen (AID), three women with mild endometriosis, three with periadnexal adhesions, one with hostile (not immunologic) cervical mucus, and one couple in which the male partner was affected by asthenospermia were treated by the gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) technique. Three different protocols for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation were used, and an adequate follicular growth and oocyte maturation were achieved in all cases. Seventeen pregnancies were obtained, for a global pregnancy rate of 38.6%. Two pregnancies (11.7%) ended in clinical abortions, and one (5.8%) was a tubal pregnancy. Of the ongoing pregnancies, one is twin and two are triplets. Seven pregnancies (six ongoing, one abortion) were obtained in the UI group (26%), six (all ongoing) in the failed AID group (66.6%), two continuing pregnancies in the three patients with endometriosis (66.6%); the tubal pregnancy and one clinical abortion occurred in the group with adnexal adhesions. No pregnancies were obtained in the patient with hostile cervical mucus and in the couple with infertility presumably due to poor semen. These encouraging results and the simplicity of the technique suggest that GIFT could be an effective approach that could be programmed during a well-timed laparoscopy where persistent infertility exists in association with apparently normal fallopian tubes.

Chorionic Gonadotropin↗
PubMed1986

Binding of human EPF to receptors on PMBC as a first signal of pregnancy immunomodulation.

The interaction between human early pregnancy factor (EPF) and a specific receptor present on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBC) has been assessed. EPF was radioiodiated by the lactoperoxidase method to a high specific activity, and the [125I]EPF obtained bound in a specific and saturable manner to the receptors on PBMC. Saturation of the binding sites occurred at 10(-9) M. There were 6600 specific binding sites per cell in cells partially purified from pregnant women and fewer in those from non-pregnant women. Unlabelled EPF was capable of competing for binding sites with [125I]EPF, while the binding of [125I]EPF was not inhibited by human chorionic gonadotrophin. A new assay was used that permits the culture of PBMC and the detection of the surface IgG expression in the same microplate. With this method the influence in vitro of human EPF on lymphocyte expression was tested. The results demonstrated a specific inhibition of surface IgG expression of PBMC using a very low concentration of EPF (10 pg/ml).

Binding, Competitive↗