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Biomedical subjects

R Pepperell

Publications and source records attributed to R Pepperell.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Predictors of pregnancy success in repeated miscarriage.

Factors that may have a bearing on subsequent pregnancy success or failure in patients with recurrent abortion were examined in 165 women with a history of three or more consecutive miscarriages in the first trimester. The overall success rate was 67.9%. Factors that were found to correlate significantly with success rate were length of abortion history, total number of abortions, interval from last miscarriage to present pregnancy, and whether there was any degree of subfertility. Logistic regression analysis showed that the abortion x years index and maternal age accounted for all the variation observed in our data. Where all other known causes of abortions are excluded, recurrent aborters can be subdivided into two populations--namely, those with a relatively good prognosis characterized by a short abortion history and absence of subfertility problems, compared to those with a poor prognosis namely those with a long abortion history or presence of subfertility problems. These data clearly demonstrate major differences in success rates in women depending on the number of abortions and the length of abortion history (abortion x year index), particularly in women over the age of 30 years.

Abortion, Habitual

Psychological aspects of hysterectomy. A prospective study.

Sixty women aged between 30 and 55 years, having hysterectomy for benign conditions, were prospectively studied to investigate psychological adjustment to operation, and to explore social, psychological and physical factors associated with psychological outcome. A further 30 women were included for prospective research on psychological outcome. Investigations took place within two weeks of operation and after four months and 14 months. The findings indicated a high prevalence of pre-operative psychological morbidity (55%), which reduced to 31.7% afterwards. There was no evidence that hysterectomy led to a greater psychological distress. The principal risk factors of poor psychological outcome were the previous scores on the mental health measures and personality inventory. Involvement in the research process did not appear to affect psychological outcome.

Adult

Clomiphene.

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Animals

Treatment-independent pregnancies after cessation of gonadotropin ovulation induction in women with oligomenorrhea and anovulatory menses.

Life-table analysis was performed for the cumulative spontaneous pregnancy rate (CSPR) of 56 patients with oligomenorrhea and anovulatory cycles who had been treated with gonadotropin for ovulation induction between 1963 and 1985. Twenty-seven had at least one spontaneous pregnancy, giving rise to a CSPR of 66.4% (95% confidence limit [CL] 42.4% to 90.4%) at 115 months for the first spontaneous pregnancy, which is significantly lower than the cumulative induced pregnancy rate (CIPR) of 88.6% at 23 months for the first course of gonadotropin therapy (P less than 0.0001). This fertility potential was not affected by the baseline estrogen and follicle-stimulating hormone levels, diagnosis, result of gonadotropin therapy, and age and menstrual pattern during exposure to spontaneous pregnancy by Cox regression analysis. More multiple births occurred in the induced pregnancies than in the spontaneous pregnancies (P = 0.005).

Anovulation

Histocompatibility antigens and habitual abortion.

Eighty-five couples with habitual abortion were studied: 43 were primary aborters (i.e., had no advanced pregnancy beyond 20 weeks gestation), and 42 were secondary aborters. The only significant finding in primary female aborters was a reduction in the incidence of B35. In contrast, in secondary female aborters there was a reduction in the incidence of DR3 and A1/B8/DR3 and an increase in the degree of homozygosity of HLA B. In the male partners of primary aborters, there was a reduced incidence of DR3 and A1/B8/DR3. In addition, in male partners of both primary and secondary aborters, there was increased HLA-B homozygosity and increased frequency of DR4-5 phenotype. Increased sharing of HLA antigens between partners was not found to be significantly different from the control population. These findings emphasize that primary and secondary female aborters form distinct populations, which could explain differences in immunological responses to various antigens, including fetal-related antigens. The closely related findings in female secondary aborters and male partners of primary aborters are intriguing but cannot be explained. Whether or not these genetic markers bear any relationship to reproductive success remains to be determined.

Abortion, Habitual

Phase II trial of VP-16-213 in advanced ovarian carcinoma.

We have reevaluated the effectiveness of VP-16-213 in advanced ovarian carcinoma. Twenty-five patients with measurable disease were treated for 3 days every 2 weeks with an escalating dose of the oral preparation. Twenty-two percent of 23 evaluable patients responded including one complete response. The median duration of response was 20 weeks and median survival 32 weeks. Toxicity was mild. The response rate observed is relatively high in patients pretreated with cis-platinum. VP-16-213 deserves further study, especially in combination with cis-platinum.

Administration, Oral

Individual neurophysin concentrations in the pituitary and circulation of humans.

Specific, homologous human neurophysin I and II radioimmunoassays were established and used to measure the individual, immunoreactive neurophysin concentrations in human plasma. Circulating levels of human neurophysin I in normal individuals were less than 1 ng/ml and neurophysin II levels were 1-2 ng/ml. During dehydration, there was a significant rise in plasma neurophysin I, together with an increase in neurophysin II. Haemorrhage also was associated with a rise in plasma neurophysin I and II, but the percent increase was greater for I than II. In two subjects in whom nicotine inhalation caused a rise in plasma neurophysin I, there was no detectable increase in plasma neurophysin II. These stimuli which have been reported to release vasopressin from the posterior pituitary also are associated with the differential release of neurophysin I. Plasma neurophysin II levels could more clearly be shown to rise independently of plasma neurophysin I during events thought to be related to oxytocin release. Plasma neurophysin II levels were significantly elevated in women taking oral contraceptives. Similarly during pregnancy there was a progressive rise in plasma neurophysin II concentration which was proportional to the period of gestation. Plasma neurophysin II concentrations in seven of fifteen nursing women rose significantly during suckling. There was no detectable change in plasma neurophysin I concentrations during any of these events. Plasma neurophysin I and II levels were both significantly elevated in fourteen patients with chronic renal failure and rose over haemodialysis, suggesting that the kidney may be the major route of clearance of the neurophysins. In humans the independent release of neurophysin II was associated with stimuli thought to release oxytocin, but neurophysin I showed only a differential release compared to neurophysin II in vasopressin stimulated events.

Contraceptives, Oral