The clinical problem Atopic eczema affects many adults and up to 20% of children,1 with health costs comparable to diabetes2 and asthma.3 One community survey of 1760 young children in the United Kingdom found that 84% had mild eczema, 14% moderate, and 2% severe eczema.4 Topical corticosteroids are a mainstay of treatment for inflammatory episodes.5 Most long established topical corticosteroid...

The effects of topical and systemic administration of various glucocorticoids on the density of epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) were studied in guinea pigs. Glucocorticoids, such as betamethasone dipropionate and valerate, caused a marked decrease in LC demonstrable by staining for cell membrane ATPase activity and Ia antigens. By electronmicroscopy, LC also showed morphologic alterations. The ...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy of oestradiol valerate/dienogest (E2V/DNG) for the treatment of heavy and/or prolonged menstrual bleeding without organic pathology based on the analysis of data from two identically designed double-blind, randomised studies. METHODS Women aged ≥ 18 years with heavy and/or prolonged menstrual bleeding were randomised to E2V/DNG (n = 269) or placebo (n = 152...

BACKGROUND Atopic dermatitis (AD) affects health and quality of life and it has great impact on both health-care costs and costs to the society. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to develop a model to analyse the cost-effectiveness of a barrier-strengthening moisturizing cream as maintenance therapy compared with no treatment after initial treatment with betamethasone valerate in adu...

Objective. To determine the optimal duration of progesterone supplementation prior to transfer of cryopreserved embryos and its impact on implantation and pregnancy rates. Study Design. Prospective randomised study. Materials and Methods. In an IVF unit of a tertiary centre, sixty-six patients undergoing cryopreserved embryo transfer cycles were included. Endometrial preparation was done with e...

The Southampton In Vitro Fertilisation Programme was established in 1986. Since that time the programme has maintained a clinical pregnancy rate of over 25 per oocyte retrieval. Embryos in excess of requirements for fresh transfer have been cryopreserved using controlled rate freezing and Propanediol as a cryoprotectant. Review of the first 75 frozen embryo transfers in natural or clomid induce...