PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P Vercellini

Publications and source records attributed to P Vercellini.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Gestational aspects of uterus didelphys.

The reproductive history was analyzed of 13 women with a laparoscopic or laparotomy diagnosis of uterus didelphys and followed for two to six years. Two patients (15.4%) presented with primary infertility; the other 11 had a total of 27 pregnancies, the outcome of which was spontaneous abortion in 20 cases (74%), premature labor in 6 (22.2%) and term birth in 1 (3.7%), with a live birth rate of 18.5%. Metroplasty was performed in five cases, with live birth in three, spontaneous abortion in 1 and no postoperative conceptions in one. Cervical cerclage was performed in only one case and bilateral ovarian resection in one. The live birth rate, considering all pregnancies before and after treatment, was 35%. The compromised fertility of the uterus didelphys is probably attributable to congenital alterations in vascularization that may have a negative influence on developmental phases following implantation, particularly the structuralization of the fetomaternal relations that precede placentation.

Adult↗

Reproductive performance of women with unicornuate uterus.

The reproductive history of 19 women with a diagnosis of unicornuate uterus confirmed by laparoscopy or laparotomy is analyzed. The patients were followed for 2 to 10 years. One patient had a cavitary communicating rudimentary horn, four a cavitary noncommunicating rudimentary horn, seven a noncavitary rudimentary horn, and seven no rudimentary horn. Six of the patients presented with primary infertility. The other 13 women had a total of 29 pregnancies, 1 (3.4%) in a rudimentary horn determining rupture; abortions occurred in 17 (58.6%), premature labor in 3 (10.3%), and term births in 8 (27.6%), with a live birth rate of 38%. Of the 11 births, 6 (54.5%) were breech presentations, and 9 (81.8%) were cesarean sections. In five cases the rudimentary horn was removed, with associated salpingooophorectomy in three patients. Cervical cerclage was not performed in any of the patients.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Seveso Women's Health Study: a study of the effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin on reproductive health.

Although reproductive effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposure have been reported in numerous investigations of animals, studies of this association in humans are limited. In 1976, an explosion in Seveso, Italy exposed the surrounding population to among the highest levels of TCDD recorded in humans. The relatively pure exposure to TCDD and the ability to quantify individual level TCDD exposure from sera collected in 1976 for the Seveso cohort affords a unique opportunity to evaluate the potential dose-response relationship between TCDD exposure and a spectrum of reproductive endpoints. The Seveso Women's Health Study (SWHS) is the first comprehensive study of the reproductive health of a human population exposed to TCDD. The primary objectives of the study are to investigate the relationship of TCDD and the following endpoints: (1) endometriosis; (2) menstrual cycle characteristics; (3) age at menarche; (4) birth outcomes of pregnancies conceived after 1976; (5) time to conception and clinical infertility; and (6) age at menopause. Included in the SWHS cohort are women who were 0-40 yr old in 1976, who have adequate stored sera collected between 1976 and 1980, and who resided in Zones A or B at the time of the accident. All women were interviewed extensively about their reproductive and pregnancy history and had a blood draw. For an eligible subset of women, a pelvic exam and transvaginal ultrasound were conducted and a menstrual diary was completed. More than 95% of the women were located 20 yr after the accident and roughly 80% of the cohort agreed to participate. Data collection was completed in July 1998, serum TCDD analysis of samples for analysis of endometriosis as a nested case-control study was completed in October 1998, and statistical analysis of these data should be completed in early 1999. Serum samples are now being analyzed in order to relate TCDD levels with the remaining reproductive outcomes.

Adult↗

Serum Ca-125 concentrations in endometriosis.

Serum Ca-125 levels were measured in 154 patients undergoing laparoscopy or laparotomy for infertility and/or pelvic pain. Pelvic endometriosis at various stages was observed in 102 of the patients, and 52 had a visually normal pelvis and served as a control group. We found a significantly higher mean serum Ca-125 concentration in the patients with stages III and IV endometriosis compared with the controls (P less than 0.001) whereas in the patients with stages I and II disease the mean antigen level was comparable to that of the control group. Considering its low sensitivity (14.7%) the usefulness of serum Ca-125 measurements as an initial diagnostic test for endometriosis is scanty. On the contrary, because of its elevated specificity (100%), this test may be useful in indicating early surgical exploration of the pelvis in cases of infertility and/or dysmenorrhea which are associated with high values of Ca-125.

Adult↗

Laparotomy versus laparoscopy in the surgical treatment of endometriosis: the end of an era?

The Authors compare the efficiency of laparoscopic treatment with laparotomic surgical management of endometriosis. When the disease causes mechanical distortions and adnexal adhesions, there is an obvious explanation for infertility; in these cases laparotomic surgery has so far proved the only treatment to produce significantly valid results. No findings have yet been reported to demonstrate that cytoreduction, either pharmacological, laparoscopic or laparotomic, offers concrete advantages compared with simple observation when the disease is in the early stage.

Endometriosis↗

Communicating uteri: description and classification of a new type.

A case of bicornuate-bicervical communicating uterus with atresia of the right hemicervix is reported. This cannot be included in any of the nine groups of Toaff's classification of uterine malformations proposed in 1984, and should be classified as a new, tenth type.

Adult↗

Second-look laparoscopy in the treatment of endometriosis.

The results of second-look laparoscopy were compared with subjective symptomatology and findings at pelvic exploration in 36 patients who had received conservative treatment for endometriosis. In the 14 patients given pharmacologic treatment, second-look laparoscopy demonstrated active endometriosis in 57.1%, whereas pelvic pain was present in 64.3% and gynecologic examination was positive in 28.6%. In the 22 patients who underwent surgery, active endometriosis was detected by second-look laparoscopy in 31.8%, whereas 40.9% reported pelvic pain and pelvic examination was positive in 31.8%. Thus clinical signs and symptoms were unreliable in the diagnosis of endometriosis recurrence, whereas laparoscopy was indispensable. It should be programmed for 6 months from the end of medical treatment and 12 months after surgery; however, if the pain symptomatology recurs, then laparoscopy is performed immediately.

Adult↗

Intrauterine adhesions: current diagnostic and therapeutic trends.

In the period January 1981-December 1984, 31 cases of intrauterine adhesions (8 severe, 10 moderate and 13 minimal) were diagnosed at the First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Milan. This pathology had altered the menstrual function in 21 subjects and reproductive capacity in 27. Synecholysis was performed at hysteroscopy, followed by application of an IUD in 7 patients and sequential treatment with estrogens and progestins in 22. After treatment 67.7% of the women had normal menstruation, and 40.7% of those wanting a child achieved pregnancy with live birth. Repeat hysterography and hysteroscopy after several months showed complete normalization of the uterine cavity in 62.5% of the women, and persistence of minimal and moderate adhesions in 25% and 12.5% respectively. Dissection with miniature scissors under visual control, followed by application of an IUD and sequential administration of estrogens and progestins seems at present the most effective therapeutic regimen for intrauterine adhesions.

Abortion, Induced↗

GnRH agonists in the treatment of endometriosis.

GnRH agonists, synthetic peptide analogs of GnRH, desensitize pituitary receptors for the native molecule, thus causing reversible hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Numerous clinical studies have suggested that these compounds are efficacious in the treatment of endometriosis, but it is not clear whether they are superior to the other drugs used in treatment of this disease. The frequency of recurrence of pain symptoms at the end of treatment is high and the data on recovery of fertility are conflicting. Long-term administration of GnRH agonists is a safe and well tolerated treatment but its role in the management of endometriosis is still not well defined.

Animals↗

Sonographic evaluation of uterine morphology: a new scanning technique.

Through sonographic sections with mid-empty bladder it is possible to evaluate all uterine biometric data. This technique was evaluated in thirty-four cases of uterine malformations and satisfactory results were obtained in thirty-two of them. If further studies on randomized patients confirm the specificity of this technique, it could become a basic non invasive investigation for the screening of uterine malformations.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

Second-look hysteroscopy after conservative surgery of the uterus.

A hysteroscopic second look has been performed following sixteen intracavitary myomectomies, twenty-nine metroplasties and thirty-four intra-uterine adhesiolyses. This control has been performed three months after laparotomic operation and after forty-five days of sequential estro-progestogen treatment in cases of transcervical operation. The hysteroscopic second-look proved to be an excellent follow-up method after uterine conservative surgery and it avoids the use of X-rays, allows a detailed morphological evaluation of the uterine cavity and offers the possibility of complementary surgery, when necessary.

Endoscopy↗

Conservative surgical treatment of endometriosis.

In the period 1979-1983, 102 patients with endometriosis underwent conservative surgery at Ia Clinica Ostetrica e Ginecologica, Milan University. Treatment indications, techniques and results are presented. 34.3% of the women were in stage I, 51% in stage II and 14.7% in stage III of the American Fertility Society classification. Postoperatively, the incidence of dysmenorrhea fell from 63.7% to 15.7%, deep dyspareunia from 53.3% to 17.6% and chronic pelvic pain 21.6% to 11.8%. In 1-6 years' follow-up of the 53 women wanting children, the postoperative birth-rate was 68.3% in stage I patients, 59% in stage II and 37.5% in stage III. Endometriosis treatment is still only symptomatic, and conservative surgery, using atraumatic procedures, should aim at restoring fertility and resolving pain symptomatology.

Adult↗

Degree of endosalpingeal deciliation (by S.E.M.) in hydrosalpinx is not prognostic for post-surgical fertility.

In 21 infertile patients, operated on for bilateral hydrosalpinges, multiple tubal biopsies, removed during surgery, were studied by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Compared with control biopsies, taken from 12 fertile women, all cases but one showed flattening or loss of major and minor mucosal folds and epithelial deciliation. However postsurgical fertility rate, after 1-3 years follow-up, is not proportional to the percentage of ciliated cells.

Adult↗

The significance of scanning electron microscopy findings from the endosalpinx in tubal pregnancies.

Authors report the endosalpingeal scanning electron microscopy (S.E.M.) findings in eleven tubes removed for ectopic pregnancies. The first aim of this study is to verify whether there is a corresponding morphological common aspect in all cases. The second aim is that of locating, with the aid of S.E.M. findings, some prognostic indications for predicting the future fertility of the patient.

Embryo Implantation↗