Intrauterine insemination treatment in subfertility: an analysis of factors affecting outcome. (1/85)

A total of 811 intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles in which clomiphene citrate/human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) was used for ovarian stimulation were analysed retrospectively to identify prognostic factors regarding treatment outcome. The overall pregnancy rate was 12.6% per cycle, the multiple pregnancy rate 13.7%, and the miscarriage rate 23.5%. Logistic regression analysis revealed five predictive variables as regards pregnancy: number of the treatment cycle (P = 0.009), duration of infertility (P = 0.017), age (P = 0.028), number of follicles (P = 0.031) and infertility aetiology (P = 0.045). The odds ratios for age < 40 years, unexplained infertility aetiology (versus endometriosis) and duration of infertility < or = 6 years were 3.24, 2.79 and 2.33, respectively. A multifollicular ovarian response to clomiphene citrate/HMG resulted in better treatment success than a monofollicular response, and 97% of the pregnancies were obtained in the first four treatment cycles. The results indicate that clomiphene citrate/HMG/IUI is a useful and cost-effective treatment option in women < 40 years of age with infertility duration < or = 6 years, who do not suffer from endometriosis.  (+info)

Pregnancy of the wife of a complete paraplegic by homologeous insemination after an intrathecal injection of neostigmine. (2/85)

A case of successful pregnancy following artificial insemination following intrathecal neostigmine injection in the wife of a complete traumatic paraplegic (T7-T8 to T11-T12) is described.  (+info)

Viagra for temporary erectile dysfunction during treatments with assisted reproductive technologies. (3/85)

During treatments with assisted reproductive technologies (ART), some men may have difficulties in producing spermatozoa on demand at the time of insemination, either for intrauterine insemination (IUI) or for in-vitro fertilization (IVF). This situation imposes tremendous stress on the couple and may cause cancellation of the treatment. Here we describe, for the first time, the use of sildenafil citrate (ViagraTM) for temporary erectile dysfunction in couples undergoing ART. The first case was a man who could not produce spermatozoa for the first IVF treatment after an exhausting trial for 12 h, despite the fact that he never had problems in providing sperm samples during previous IUI cycles. Using Viagra enabled him to provide spermatozoa, but the delay in oocyte insemination resulted in no embryonic development. This prompted us to be more alert to this option and to suggest the use of Viagra to men who had a history of erectile dysfunction during previous ART cycles. In these cases, the use of Viagra was planned in advance and it successfully solved any unpredictable erectile dysfunction on the day of insemination. Such cases emphasize the need to think in advance of this potential use of Viagra during ART.  (+info)

Relationship of total motile sperm count and percentage motile sperm to successful pregnancy rates following intrauterine insemination. (4/85)

PURPOSE: This study sought (i) to investigate the relationship between postwash total motile sperm count and postwash percentage motile sperm in predicting successful intrauterine insemination and (ii) to determine the minimal postwash total motile sperm count required to achieve pregnancy with intrauterine insemination. METHODS: Five hundred four women, who underwent 1636 intrauterine insemination cycles with their partner's sperm for infertility treatment from 1993 through 1995, were included in this retrospective study. All patient charts were reviewed for age, infertility etiology, ovarian stimulation regimens, semen characteristics, and treatment outcome. To determine the relationship between total motile sperm count and intrauterine insemination outcome, patients were grouped as (1) less than 0.5 million, (2) 0.5 to 1 million, (3) 1 to 5 million, (4) greater than 5 million, and (5) greater than 20 million. RESULTS: Similar live birth rates (per cycle) were seen among the postwash total motile sperm count groups: group 1, 3.5%; group 2, 2.4%; group 3, 7.0%; group 4, 6.9%; and group 5, 7.0% (P = 0.37). However, regardless of the postwash total motile sperm count, the postwash motility predicted intrauterine insemination success at a cutoff value of 40%. CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of postwash sperm motility, and not the postwash total motile sperm count, can predict successful intrauterine insemination outcome. Such information can be useful in counseling patients regarding their chance of success with intrauterine insemination and in determining when alternate methods of assisted reproduction may be a better approach.  (+info)

Relationship between the sperm motility index assessed by the sperm quality analyzer and the outcome of intracytoplasmic sperm injection. (5/85)

PURPOSE: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has been validated as a useful treatment in severe male-factor patients who could not achieve fertilization and live births by conventional in vitro fertilization treatment. To examine the impact of male factors on ICSI outcome, clinical laboratory data were retrospectively analyzed. METHODS: One hundred two cycles of ICSI treatment indicated by severe male-factor infertility were entered into this study. Sperm parameters including sperm motility, sperm concentration, and sperm motility index assessed by the Sperm Quality Analyzer were evaluated. RESULTS: Five hundred seventy-six metaphase II oocytes retrieved were manipulated. The normal fertilization (2 PN) rate per oocyte was 64.9 +/- 26.0% (mean +/- SD). Of the 99 transfers, 31 clinical pregnancies were obtained, yielding an average pregnancy rate of 31.3% per transfer. The mean sperm motility, sperm concentration, and sperm motility index were 20.3 +/- 16.1% (range, 0 to 50%), 18.2 +/- 25.1 x 10(6)/ml (range, < 1 to 150 x 10(6)/ml), and 31.2 +/- 45.0 (range, 0 to 220), respectively. Sperm concentration did not have a significant impact on fertilization rate by ICSI. In four cases, ICSI was performed using totally immotile sperm and the fertilization rate was 43.5%, which was significantly lower than that of some of the other sperm motility groups, and no pregnancy could be achieved. In 14 cases in which the sperm motility index assessed by the Sperm Quality Analyzer was 0, the fertilization rate (50.0%) was significantly lower than in most of the other sperm motility index groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that in severe male-factor cases with totally immotile sperm or a sperm motility index of 0, the selection of good-quality sperm should be verified before injection.  (+info)

Parenting stress and psychosocial well-being among parents with twins conceived naturally or by reproductive technology. (6/85)

This study compared parenting stress and psychosocial well-being among parents with 1 year old twins conceived in three different ways: (i) spontaneously without any medical assistance (54 families), (ii) spontaneously following hormonal treatment (25 families) and (iii) following in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or artificial insemination (AI) with the semen of the social father (24 families). The investigation included the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). Since the presence of older children differed significantly between the three groups, this factor was included in the statistical analysis. Overall, no significant differences were found between the three study groups, either for the mothers or for the fathers. Nevertheless, we found a main effect of the presence of older children and an interaction effect of the presence of older children and the conception mode on some of the scales for the mothers: first-time mothers showed significantly higher stress related to parental competence, health and the partner relationship compared with mothers who had older children. First-time mothers with a history of infertility obtained significantly higher stress scores for parental competence and health and showed lower psychosocial well-being compared with naturally conceiving first-time mothers and mothers with a history of infertility who already had children.  (+info)

Recombinant human FSH versus highly purified urinary FSH: a randomized study in intrauterine insemination with husbands' spermatozoa. (7/85)

A randomized trial was carried out comparing recombinant FSH (rFSH) and highly purified urinary FSH (uFSH) in intrauterine insemination (IUI) with husbands' spermatozoa. A total of 45 women received rFSH (139 cycles), while 46 women received uFSH (155 cycles). The starting dose was 150 IU/day s.c., beginning on the second day, and on days 6-7 the dose was adjusted according to ovarian response, assessed by vaginal ultrasound and plasma oestradiol concentration. The pregnancy rate according to the intention to treat was 57.8% in rFSH versus 52.2% in uFSH, the corrected pregnancy rates 56.8% and 52.2%, and the cumulative pregnancy rates 69.6% and 61.0%, but the differences were not statistically significant. The per cycle pregnancy rate was 18.12% in rFSH and 15.48% in u-FSH, also not statistically significant. In the rFSH group, the consumption of FSH ampoules per cycle was significantly lower (19.20 +/- 7.02 versus 23. 80 +/- 10.78; P < 0.0001). The ratio of oestradiol/FSH ampoules was significantly higher in rFSH (56.45 +/- 31.26 versus 46.41 +/- 29. 25; P < 0.001). These data indicate that, in IUI cycles, rFSH has a higher potency than uFSH.  (+info)

Should ICSI be the treatment of choice for all cases of in-vitro conception? (8/85)

The objective of this study was to examine different clinical scenarios of in-vitro conception, viz. fertilization with conventional IVF, IVF with high insemination concentration (HIC) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and assess on a sibling oocyte comparison the hypothesis that ICSI should be performed in all cases requiring in-vitro conception. ICSI with husband's spermatozoa had a higher incidence of fertilization as compared with IVF or IVF with HIC with donor spermatozoa (if previous failure of fertilization had occurred) for unexplained infertility. Similarly, ICSI with husband's spermatozoa had as high an incidence of fertilization as IVF with donor spermatozoa for patients with severe oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia and/or teratozoospermia, even when the spermatozoa were not selected for their morphology. Two studies were performed to assess ICSI in potential oocyte-related failure of IVF, viz. when fertilization occurred in >50% of oocytes for one group of patients, and in <50% of oocytes in a second group. In both of these studies a significant proportion of the oocytes that failed to fertilize with conventional IVF eventually fertilized after ICSI. The overall conclusion was that ICSI as a first option offers a higher incidence of fertilization, maximizes the number of embryos and minimizes the risk of complete failure of fertilization for all cases requiring in-vitro conception. However, among other concerns, current knowledge of ICSI as an outcome procedure does not provide the confidence to use this process in all cases of IVF for the time being.  (+info)