Does the estradiol level on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin administration predict the clinical outcome of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation?

Objective: To investigate the effect of serum estradiol (E-2) levels on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration on the outcome of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) in both long gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist and GnRH antagonist protocols. Materials and Methods: This study included 212 in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles performed with either long GnRH agonist or GnRH antagonist protocols were classified into three groups according to serum E-2 levels measured on the day of hCG injection: 4,000 pg/ml. The three groups were compared according to age, number of retrieved oocytes, number of transferred embryos, and pregnancy rates for each of the stimulation protocols. Results: The long and antagonist protocols were performed in 130 and 82 cycles, respectively. The pregnancy rates were 21.5% (28/130) and 23.2% (19/82) in the long- and antagonist-protocol groups, respectively. Serum E-2 levels were measured on the day of hCG administration as 4,000 pg/ml in 71 cycles. The number of retrieved oocytes increased in parallel to serum E-2 levels (p = 0.001). However, there was no significant difference among groups in the pregnancy rates (p = 0.116). Similarly, the number of retrieved oocytes increased in parallel to serum E-2 levels in both of the protocol groups (p value was 0.001 in both long GnRH agonist and antagonist protocols), but there was no correlation between the pregnancy rates and serum E-2 levels (p value of long GnRH agonist protocol was 0.254 and the p value of antagonist group was 0.349). Conclusion: The serum E-2 level on the day of hCG administration does not predict the pregnancy outcome in IVF with either long GnRH agonist or GnRH antagonist protocols

Forehead and facial heights in Down syndrome and normal fetuses in the midtrimester of pregnancy

Objectives: To compare forehead height (FH), facial heights (FaHs) and the ratios of biparietal diameter (BPD) and femur length (FL) to these heights in midtrimester normal and Down syndrome (DS) fetuses. Methods: 150 normal and 26 DS fetuses were scanned at 15-25 weeks of gestation. At the mid-sagittal image of the fetal profile, FH, FaH, upper facial height (UFaH) and lower facial height (LFaH) were measured in millimeters with "two line distance" tool. The results were expressed as multiples of the gestation-specific normal median (MoMs) using the regression of the equation derived from normal fetuses. The ratios of BPD/UFaH, BPD/LFaH, BPD/FaH, BPD/FH, FL/UFaH, FL/LFaH, FL/FaH, FL/FH were also assessed. Results: In normal fetuses, FH and FaHs increased linearly with gestational age (GA). UFaH increased linearly from 5.2 mm at 15 weeks to 15.7 mm at 25 weeks. LFaH increased from 9.3 mm at 15 weeks to 32 mm at 25.2 weeks. FaH increased from 16 mm at 15 weeks to 39 mm at 25 weeks. FH increased from 17.7 mm at 15 weeks to 42.8 mm at 25 weeks. Only UFaH was found to be significantly smaller in DS fetuses (with a mean of 0.91 MoM, 95% CI, 0.7-1.1, p = 0.003), than in normal fetuses (1 MoM, 95% CI, 0.6-1.3). Concomitantly, none of the ratios changed with gestation and all were found to be statistically higher in DS fetuses (p < 0.05). Conclusions: UFaH, is smaller in DS fetuses compared with normal fetuses in the midtrimester of pregnancy. The ratios of BPD and FL to all heights are higher in fetuses with DS than in normal fetuses

Recurrent increased nuchal translucency: a first trimester presentation of familial 13p satellite deletion.

Chromosome 13 is one of the acrocentric chromosomes of the human karyotype. Acrocentric chromosomes are the most variable chromosomes in the human karyotype and these variations appear to have no clinical consequences. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a first trimester presentation of a 13 short arm satellite deletion with markedly increased nuchal translucency (NT). In this case, the 13p short arm satellite deletion was associated with increased NT in two pregnancies from the same couple

Recurrent increased nuchal translucency: a first trimester presentation of familial 13p satellite deletion

Chromosome 13 is one of the acrocentric chromosomes of the human karyotype. Acrocentric chromosomes are the most variable chromosomes in the human karyotype and these variations appear to have no clinical consequences. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a first trimester presentation of a 13 short arm satellite deletion with markedly increased nuchal translucency (NT). In this case, the 13p short arm satellite deletion was associated with increased NT in two pregnancies from the same couple

Cell-free DNA testing: is it reliable? A case report

In this article, the authors reported the findings of a false negative case of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) testing for trisomy 21. The cfDNA test was performed due to the increased nuchal translucency during the first trimester scan. After receiving the "normal" result of the test, the patient was followed up. However, intrauterine growth retardation and ventriculomegaly were detected in the second trimester of pregnancy and fetal karyotyping revealed trisomy 21

Deletion of macro domain containing 2(MACRO D2) associated with transient hydrops fetalis

Cilingir, I. Uzun (Trakya Author) Sayin, Niyazi Cenk (Trakya Author) Gurkan, H.(Trakya Author) Ciftdemir, N. A. (Trakya Author) Atli, E. (Trakya Author) Inan, C. (Trakya Author) Erzincan, S. (Trakya Author) Sutcu, H. (Trakya Author) Vatansever, U. (Trakya Author) Varol, Fusun (Trakya Author)Macro Domain Containing 2 (MACRO D2) gene is a gene from macro family which is highly expressed in the ventriculer zone of the brain during embryonic development. Association between Autism spectrum disorders and MACRO D2 gene polymorphisms has been reported before [1] . Deletion in MACRO D2 gene has also been associated with Kabuki Syndrome which is a well described congential anomaly syndrome [2]

QSAR models for antioxidant activity of new coumarin derivatives

<div><p>This study presents 37 new antioxidant coumarin derivatives and strategies for structural modification to improve their antioxidant activities, the main ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay used to evaluate their antioxidant properties and the generation of validated quantitative structure–activity (antioxidant activity) relationship (QSAR) models. In an attempt to generate QSAR models, structures of all coumarin derivatives in the data set were fully optimized by semi-empirical PM6 method using SPARTAN 10 software. Descriptors were calculated by DRAGON 6.0 software. Multiple linear regression (MLR) models were developed with different training/test set combinations using QSARINS 2.2.1 software. Robustness, reliability and predictive power of the models were tested by internal and external validations. Applicability domain of the best two-descriptor model (<i>n</i>_TR = 30; <i>r</i>² = 0.924; <i>RMSE</i>_TR = 0.213; <i>n</i>_TEST = 7; <i>r</i>²_ext = 0.887; <i>RMSE</i>_ext = 0.255; <i>CCC</i>_ext = 0.939) was determined. Descriptors appeared in the model revealed that complexity, H-bond donor and lipophilic character are important parameters in describing the antioxidant activity. Apart from the compounds in the data set, we also designed 31 new antioxidant coumarin derivatives and predicted their antioxidant activity using the best two-descriptor model. Most of these compounds are promising antioxidants</p></div