The January issue is a special issue on Reproductive Medicine and is completely free to access. It contains a range of articles including, among others, systematic reviews and original research on the outcome of pregnancies conceived by assisted reproductive technology, articles on congenital uterine malformations and antral follicle counting, including a consensus opinion, and a randomized controlled trial on the treatment of early miscarriage. Also in this issue, is a consensus-based description of a curriculum and competency assessment for standardization of ultrasound training in residency programs.

Please see below a selection of articles from the January issue of the Journal chosen specially by the UOG team. To view all UOG content, become an ISUOG member today.

You can also find accompanying video lectures on reproductive medicine from ISUOG courses and events on the Supplement Your Reading webpage for this issue. You must login as an ISUOG member to access this page. 

Systematic reviews on ART pregnancy outcome

A number of articles in this issue focus on pregnancies conceived by assisted reproductive technology (ART). A systematic review of cohort studies by Cavoretto et al. on the risk of spontaneous preterm birth in singleton pregnancies conceived by IVF/ICSI shows an increased risk at both <37 and <34 weeks’ gestation compared with those conceived spontaneously. View the press release for this article with comment from ISUOG Board member Dr Nick Raine-Fenning.

A systematic review of observational studies by Siristatidis et al. shows that, in IVF pregnancies, whilst the common sexually-transmitted HPV infection in women had no effect on IVF outcomes, HPV infection of their male partners significantly reduced live birth/ongoing pregnancy rate and increased rate of miscarriage. A meta-analysis on pregnancies conceived by ART by Giorgione et al. shows that the risk of CHD in IVF/ICSI pregnancies is significantly increased by about 50% as compared with pregnancies conceived spontaneously. View the press release for this article.

Other systematic reviews

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials by Senra et al. on the use of GnRHa during cancer chemotherapy, shows it to reduce the risk of primary ovarian insufficiency/amenorrhea and increase the rate of spontaneous pregnancy.

Gadalla et al. compare clomiphene citrate vs other drug regimens for treatment of women with World Health Organization group II anovulatory disorders, finding that other drug treatments, such as letrozole, may have a greater positive effect on mid-cycle endometrial thickness, ovulation, pregnancy and live birth rates. Read the accompanying Journal Club slides.

Expert international consensus on antral follicle counting

Also in this special issue, is an expert consensus by Coelho Neto et al. on antral follicle counting from an international group of clinicians and sonologists, summarizing important aspects of the available techniques for counting ovarian follicles, suggesting minimum standards to improve reliability and minimize patient discomfort and proposing a standardized report to describe antral follicle evaluation.

Improved criteria for diagnosis of congenital uterine malformations

A validation study by Ludwin et al. shows a good level of agreement among international experts using the coronal view of the uterus to differentiate septate from normal/arcuate uterus, and poor agreement with ESHRE-ESGE and ASRM criteria, which over- and underestimate, respectively, the prevalence of septate uterus.

Misoprostol treatment vs expectant management for early miscarriage

A randomized controlled trial by Fernlund et al. shows that in women with early non-viable pregnancy and vaginal bleeding, misoprostol treatment is more effective than is expectant management for complete evacuation of the uterus. Read the accompanying Journal Club slides.

A multi-Society consensus-based ultrasound training program

The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine assembled a multi-Society Task Force to develop a standardized consensus-based description of a curriculum and competency assessment for standardization of ultrasound training in residency programs. In this article, Abuhamad et al. document a 4-year basic training course, detailing the ultrasound images comprising each competency along with their pass criteria. 

Coming up in the next issue of UOG…

  • An opinion article by Collins et al. on the inconsistent use of terminology for abnormally adherent and invasive placenta, and the importance of coming to an appropriate consensus. Preview the accepted article here.
     
  • A systematic review on first-trimester detection of abnormally invasive placenta in at-risk women by D’Antonio et al. Preview the accepted article here.
     
  • An original article by D’Antonio et al. on the cross-over sign for first-trimester prediction of surgical outcome in women with abnormally invasive placenta.  Preview the accepted article here. This article has been chosen for Journal Club, so look out for the accompanying downloadable slides next month.

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