BACKGROUND The increased risk of a trisomic pregnancy with a woman's age arises from an increased rate of meiotic non-disjunction in the oocytes. It has been hypothesized that the increase in meiotic errors is related to the decreasing number of oocytes with age. Our aim was to assess the relation between trisomic pregnancy and three parameters of oocyte quantity. METHODS In a Dutch nationwid...

A case of intrafollicular and unruptured ovarian pregnancy associated with intrauterine device which meets the rigid criteria of Spiegelberg (1878) is presented. Clinically, unruptured cases can be confused with ovarian cysts. Intrauterine devices are highly effective for protection against uterine gestation and to a lesser degree against tubal gestation, but they have no effect in preventing o...

BACKGROUND The addition of recombinant LH (rLH) to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) shows a beneficial effect on ongoing pregnancy rates in poor responder women, with an increase of ongoing pregnancy rate. Next to this possible beneficial effect, there are two potential drawbacks of adding rLH to COH; women have to administer extra injections, and daily rLH injections generate addition...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of previous gynecologic surgery, hormone use, and use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the risk of type 1 and type 2 ovarian cancer. METHODS We utilized data collected for the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian cancer screening trial. All diagnosed ovarian cancers were divided into three groups: type 1, endometrioid, clear cell, mucinous, low ...

Spontaneous heterotopic pregnancy is a rare clinical condition in which intrauterine and extrauterine pregnancies occur at the same time. The occurrence of an ovarian heterotopic pregnancy is a singular event as it comprises only 2.3% of all heterotopic pregnancies, extremely rare among women who conceive naturally. A case of a 28-year old patient was treated for spontaneously conceived heterot...

There have been several epidemiologic studies supporting the protective role of pregnancy, although the mechanism is not clear. High level of progesterone, which is crucial in maintaining pregnancy, has been supposed to be one of the causative factors. Progesterone is produced at the corpus luteum in the early pregnancy and the placenta in the late pregnancy period. In several experimental stud...

Background: Aqueous extract of winter cherry (Physalis alkekengi L; family of Solanaceae) fruits (WCF) has long been recommended for fertility control by herbalists in Iran. The effect of this extract on lowering serum progesterone levels has been reported previously. Objective: To study the effects of WCF extract on the activities of ovarian 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) responsible...

A considerable proportion of all women undergoing IVFrespond poorly to gonadotropin stimulation. These women are reported to be associated with increased cancellation rates and lower pregnancy rates. It has been hypothesized that poor response to ovarian stimulation is a first sign of ovarian ageing or premature ovarian failure, which might be related to altered inflammatory response in the bod...

This report describes the case of a 28 year old woman with virilisation occurring in two successive pregnancies. Recurrent maternal virilisation is rare (seven previous reports) and this case is unique in its severity. Differential diagnoses include ovarian disease and fetal aromatase deficiency. New techniques to exclude a fetal cause were used in this case. This patient presented during the t...