Ricard Vidal

Decreased pregnancy rate after in-vitro fertilization in HIV-infected women receiving HAART.

A study on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) was conducted among HIV-infected women. In these patients, a reduced pregnancy rate after IVF was observed if the patients own oocytes were used. However, no significant reduction in the pregnancy rate was found if donated oocytes were used. The CD4 lymphocyte count was independently associated with ovarian resistance to hyperstimulation. Subclinical hypogonadism mediated by immunosuppression may explain these observations, suggesting the need to optimize the immunological status of the patient before considering assisted reproduction treatments.

Fertility assessment in non-infertile HIV-infected women and their partners

The objective of the study was to assess the fertility of non-infertile couples seeking pregnancy in whom the woman was HIV infected. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was conducted between January 1998 and March 2005. A standardized fertility assessment was performed in all the included couples. A total of 130 women and 121 men were evaluated. Their median age was 34 years (range 22-43). Only 7.2% of the women were severely immunocompromised. The majority of women had regular cycles. Only one woman had an active sexually transmitted disease at the time of evaluation. A tubal occlusion on hysterosalpingogram was present in 27.8% of the women with no proven fertility. In 50.5% of the women, hepatitis C virus co-infection was present. One-third of the male partners (38/121) was infected with HIV. Abnormal semen parameters were observed in 83.4% of HIV-infected and 41.7% of HIV-uninfected partners (OR = 7; 95% CI = 2.1-23). It is concluded that the great majority of the HIV-infected women seeking pregnancy had a good infection status. Because in many of the couples, the women presented unexplained tubal occlusions and the men presented semen alterations, a hysterosalpingography and semen analysis should be part of the preconceptional investigations.

Prevención de la transmisión vertical y tratamiento de la infección por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana en la mujer embarazada

LB7. 60. Lorenzi P, Spicher VM, Laubereau B, Hirschel B, Kind C, Rudin C, et al. Antiretroviral therapies in pregnancy: maternal, fetal and neonatal effects. AIDS 1998;12:F241-7. 61. O Sullivan MJ, Scott G, Yasin S, Mitchell C, Scott W, Duthely M. Protease inhibitors: Is preterm delivery a risk? Am J Obstet Gynecol 1999;180(1S-II):105S. 62. Morris A, Zorrilla C, Vajaranant M, Dobles A, Cu-uvin S, Jones T, et al. A review of protease inhibitors use in 89 pregnancies. Program and Abstracts of the 6th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Chicago, January 31-February 4, 1999;. Abstract 686. 63. Stek A, Khoury M, Kramer F, Homans J, Rother C, Kovacs A. Maternal and Infant Outcomes with Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy During Pregnancy. Program and Abstracts of the 6th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Chicago, January 31-February 4, 1999;

Menstrual cycle length in reproductive age women is an indicator of oocyte quality and a candidate marker of ovarian reserve

OBJECTIVE The menstrual cycle is a finely tuned biological process comprising a precisely orchestrated sequence of events: follicular growth, selection and ovulation, extensive endometrial changes, corpus luteum (CL) growth and maturation, and luteolysis. Differences in the length of the menstrual cycle (MCL) have been associated with variable female fecundity. However, the reason for these differences is so far unknown. The donor-recipient model, separating uterine from ovarian factors, allows clarifying the origin of MCL-associated fecundity variations. STUDY DESIGN We analyzed retrospectively 2015 oocyte donation cycles, resulting in 3427 embryo transfers (ET) and pregnancy follow-up. RESULTS Surprisingly, we found that oocyte donors MCL of 34-35 days were strongly associated with significantly higher biochemical, clinical and ongoing pregnancy rates in woman who received the embryos, compared to the reference group of MCL of 27-29 days. Moreover, donors with longer MCL presented higher ovarian response to stimulation and lower amount of hormonal stimulation needed to achieve multifollicular growth. Conversely, MCL of <25 days were associated with a poorer ovarian response to stimulation, less cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) and less mature oocytes (MII) retrieved; however, the quality of oocytes in these women is not associated to their ovarian response, as evidenced by the pregnancy rates obtained when transferred into an adequately prepared endometrium. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that oocyte quality, rather than natural endometrial preparation, is the main reason for the reported higher fecundity of women with longer MCL. This result is further confirmed by our data on bleeding length in the donor pool. Response to ovarian stimulation is the definitive test of ovarian reserve; moreover, since different MCLs result from varying length of the follicular phase, longer MCL should be associated with a higher number of follicular recruitment events. We hypothesize that MCL is associated with - and a marker of - ovarian reserve in healthy reproductive age women.

Poor outcome in oocyte donation after elective transfer of a single cleavage-stage embryo in Turner syndrome patients

In this retrospective, matched study we evaluated the outcome of 31 oocyte donation (OD) cycles performed in 29 Turner syndrome (TS) patients involving the elective transfer of a single, fresh cleavage-stage (day 2 to 3) embryo. Due to the fact that ongoing pregnancy rate was statistically significantly lower (3.2% versus 22.5%) in TS patients when compared with matched, non-TS recipients, other strategies (such as single blastocyst transfer) should be evaluated that could enable better outcomes and at the same time avoid potential complications related to multiple pregnancies in this particularly high obstetric-risk group.