Polyflagellated macrocephalic spermatozoa: failure factor in IVF/ICSI

The authors report two cases of male infertility characterized by spermatic abnormalities of polyflagellated macrocephalic spermatozoa type affecting the entire gametes population. They demonstrate, on the one hand, the technical limitations of microinjection with such spermatozoa due to the large volume of their head and, on the other hand, the unfavourable outcome of the IVF-ICSI with this type of spermatozoa carrying abnormalities constituent. Molecular analysis of the somatic DNA of these subjects revealed a homozygous c.144delC mutation of the Aurora Kinase C gene. Consanguinity at the level of these subjects’ parents appears to be the main risk factor.  This situation constitutes a factor of failure of the IVF and leads to direct the couple towards the donation of gametes or the adoption as solution to the parental project

African experience of hysterosalpingography abnormalities tubes management by laparoscopy in infertile women

Background: Infertility affects about 80 million people worldwide and one in ten couples. The objective of this study was to report our experience of the contribution of laparoscopy in the diagnostic and prognostic approach of fallopian tubes pathology in infertile women in sub-Saharan Africa.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in the Gynecology and Obstetrics unit of Yopougon Teaching Hospital over a 2-year period (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018) which included 49 cases of tubo-peritoneal infertility diagnosed by hysterosalpingography (HSG) then laparoscopy procedure.Results: The average age was 33 years old.  30.6 % were single. 75% had secondary infertility. 59.2% had a medical history of abortion. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and pelvic surgery accounted 84.2% and 49 respectively. Laparoscopy showed a predominance of distal tubal damage (66.6%) whose 47% hydrosalpinx. Bilateral tubal patency was demonstrated in 77.5% of our patients during laparoscopy procedure. We observed a sensitivity, a specificity, and a concordance laparoscopy / HSG of 63.6%, 80% 63.1% respectively. Laparoscopy also allowed therapeutic procedures such as adhesiolysis or tubal plasty in 22 patients (44.89% of our cases). At the end of laparoscopy procedure, 35 patients (71.42%) were turned towards IVF.Conclusions: Laparoscopy allows an assessment of tubal abnormalities revealed by hysterosalpingography and the fertility prognostic as well as better therapeutic approach in management of tubal infertility

Interventional studies for preventing surgical site infections in sub-Saharan Africa - A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: There is a great need for safe surgical services in sub-Saharan Africa, but a major difficulty of performing surgery in this region is the high risk of post-operative surgical site infection (SSI). METHODS: We aimed to systematically review which interventions had been tested in sub-Saharan Africa to reduce the risk of SSI and to synthesize their findings. We searched Medline, Embase and Global Health databases for studies published between 1995 and 2010 without language restrictions and extracted data from full-text articles. FINDINGS: We identified 24 relevant articles originating from nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The methodological quality of these publications was diverse, with inconsistency in definitions used for SSI, period and method of post-operative follow-up and classification of wound contamination. Although it was difficult to synthesise information between studies, there was consistent evidence that use of single-dose pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis could reduce, sometimes dramatically, the risk of SSI. Several studies indicated that alcohol-based handrubs could provide a low-cost alternative to traditional surgical hand-washing methods. Other studies investigated the use of drains and variants of surgical technique. There were no African studies found relating to several other promising SSI prevention strategies, including use of checklists and SSI surveillance. CONCLUSIONS: There is extremely limited research from sub-Saharan Africa on interventions to curb the occurrence of SSI. Although some of the existing studies are weak, several high-quality studies have been published in recent years. Standard methodological approaches to this subject are needed

Indication for Doppler evaluation in the management of intrauterine growth restriction of vascular origin in sub-Saharan Africa

Objective: To assess the contribution of Doppler in foetal monitoring and decision-making during delivery in case of in-utero vascular growth retardation.Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study from January 2015 to December 2017 in the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department of the Yopougon University Hospital (Abidjan, Ivory Coast). It included 130 patients who gave birth in a setting of pre-eclampsia with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) from 28 weeks of amenorrhoea.Results: The average age of patients was 31years. Nulliparous (33% of our patients) and pauciparous (41% of our patients) women were the group most affected. The mean gestational age at the first Doppler examination was 32 weeks of amenorrhoea. Doppler abnormalities were 65% in uterine Doppler and 90% in umbilical Doppler. The mean cerebrovascular ratio was reversed in 90% of the cases. Perinatal mortality was 22.3% (n = 29) with 21 foetal death in utero and 8 neonatal deaths. The time interval between absent end-diastolic or reverse flow velocity and in-utero foetal death was 3.8 days.Conclusion: Foetal and umbilical Doppler ultrasound greatly modified the management of intrauterine growth retardation related to hypertension.Keywords: Ultrasonography, Doppler, pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restrictio