Poor ovarian reserve and male infertility in a rural in vitro fertilization setup: a case report

Female fertility begins to decline many years prior to the onset of menopause despite continued regular ovulatory cycles. Although there is no strict definition of advanced reproductive age in women, infertility becomes more pronounced after the age of 35. In the female, the number of oocytes decreases with age until the menopause. Oocyte quality also diminishes, due in part to increased aneuploidy because of factors such as changes in spindle integrity. Although older male age affects the likelihood of conception, abnormalities in sperm chromosomes and in some components of the semen analysis are less important than the frequency of intercourse. Age is as accurate as any other predictor of conception with assisted reproductive technology

Intrauterine platelet rich plasma versus injection G-CSF for treatment of thin endometrium in infertility

Background: For success in IVF treatment, it is essential that the patient has a responsive endometrium together with many other factors. Inspite of numerous treatments available today for growth of endometrium, there is lack of any ideal drug or protocol for increasing endometrial thickness. The study is an attempt to evaluate the role of two drugs for increasing endometrial growth before embryos transfers.Methods: This study is a retrospective cohort study including 50 patients with previously diagnosed as thin endometrium patients who may or may not have failed previous cycles of IVF. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. First group-Group A (n=25) are patients randomly selected to undergo intrauterine PRP instillation for increase in endometrial thickness before embryo transfer. Second group-Group B (n=25) are randomly selected from a retrospective cohort of thin endometrium to take injection GCSF  as intrauterine infusion (total dose 300mcg) on day of trigger or day 11 of cycle followed by 60 units subcutaneously after embryo transfer. The difference in endometrial thickness during transfer and the pregnancy outcomes were compared.Results: Injection GCSF was found to be more effective than intrauterine PRP in improving endometrial thickness in patients with thin endometrium with a p-value of <0.0001.  It was found that the chemical and clinical pregnancy rates were comparable as the p values were 0.77 and 0.37 respectively and hence statistically not significant. Although patients given injection GCSF had a slightly higher clinical pregnancy rate (44%) as compared to patients given intrauterine PRP which was 28%. All other variables were comparable.Conclusions: In the study it was proven that injection GCSF, is more effective for the treatment of thin endometrium patients as compared to intrauterine PRP infusion. Though the clinical and chemical pregnancy rates were comparable, a higher percentage of women were clinically pregnant in the group given injection GCSF.  Intrauterine PRP can also be a good alternative for thin endometrium.  More studies and RCTS are needed for comparison to prove the effectiveness of these drugs for treatment of thin endometrium

Fresh versus frozen embryo transfer: a retrospective cohort study

Background: Elective frozen embryo transfer (FET), has recently increased significantly with improvements in cryopreservation techniques. Observational studies and randomized controlled trials suggested that the endometrium in stimulated cycles is not optimally prepared for implantation; risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome reduced and pregnancy rates increased following FET and perinatal outcomes are less affected after FET. However, the evidence is not unequivocal and recent randomised control trials challenge the use of elective FET for the general IVF population. Pregnancy rates were analysed in a cohort of patients undergoing embryo transfers.Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent embryo transfers from April 2018 to March 2019 at study centre in Surat.175 cycles of embryo transfers (119 fresh and 56 frozen) were included in the study. Outcomes measured were positive pregnancy, clinical pregnancy and ongoing clinical pregnancy rates achieved in the IVF-ET cycles.Results: There were no statistically significant differences between positive pregnancy rate (54.6% versus 60.7%, Odds ratio (OR) 0.78; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.41-1.49), clinical pregnancy rate (48.73% versus 57.14%, OR 0.52; 95% CI 0.1- 2.64) and ongoing clinical pregnancy rate  (45.38% versus 51.78% OR 1.4; 95% CI 0.29 - 6.67) in fresh ET and FET cycles, respectively, p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all measures.Conclusions: Despite the observed higher rates of positive biochemical, clinical and ongoing clinical pregnancy per transfer in the FET cohort, these did not reach statistical significance. Thus, both transfer strategies are reasonable options, although there is a trend favouring the freeze-all strategy

Serum estradiol concentrations as a predictor of successful outcome in artificial frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles

Background: The role of late follicular serum estradiol monitoring in artificial FET cycles remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between serum estradiol levels on the day of starting progesterone supplementation with clinical pregnancy rates in FET cycle.Methods: This was a non-interventional observational cohort study of patients undergoing ICSI followed by FET at Nadkarni hospital and test tube baby center, Killa-Pardi, Gujarat during the period of January 2021 to May 2021. Total 64 cycles were studied and serum estradiol levels were analyzed on the day of starting progesterone supplementation. They were divided into 3 groups based on serum E2 levels (0-25th centile, 25th-75th centile and >75th centile). Chi square/Fisher exact test were used to compare the clinical pregnancy and implantation rates between these groups.Results: Clinical pregnancy and implantation rates in group A, B and C were 68.8%, 78.1%, 75% and 36.98±9.06, 32.03±4.48 and 29.69±5.69 respectively.Conclusions: Serum estradiol levels before progesterone supplementation in FET cycles do not predict the outcome of FET cycle therefore making routine monitoring of serum estradiol in FET cycle of questionable value

Impact of district mental health care plans on symptom severity and functioning of patients with priority mental health conditions: the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) cohort protocol

Background: The Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) sought to implement mental health care plans (MHCP) for four priority mental disorders (depression, alcohol use disorder, psychosis and epilepsy) into routine primary care in five low- and middle-income country districts. The impact of the MHCPs on disability was evaluated through establishment of priority disorder treatment cohorts. This paper describes the methodology of these PRIME cohorts. Methods: One cohort for each disorder was recruited across some or all five districts: Sodo (Ethiopia), Sehore (India) , Chitwan (Nepal), Dr. Kenneth Kaunda (South Africa) and Kamuli (Uganda), comprising 17 treatment cohorts in total (N = 2182). Participants were adults residing in the districts who were eligible to receive mental health treatment according to primary health care staff, trained by PRIME facilitators as per the district MHCP. Patients who screened positive for depression or AUD and who were not given a diagnosis by their clinicians (N = 709) were also recruited into comparison cohorts in Ethiopia, India, Nepal and South Africa. Caregivers of patients with epilepsy or psychosis were also recruited (N = 953), together with or on behalf of the person with a mental disorder, depending on the district. The target sample size was 200 (depression and AUD), or 150 (psychosis and epilepsy) patients initiating treatment in each recruiting district. Data collection activities were conducted by PRIME research teams. Participants completed follow-up assessments after 3 months (AUD and depression) or 6 months (psychosis and epilepsy), and after 12 months. Primary outcomes were impaired functioning, using the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS), and symptom severity, assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (depression), the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUD), and number of seizures (epilepsy). Discussion: Cohort recruitment was a function of the clinical detection rate by primary health care staff, and did not meet all planned targets. The cross-country methodology reflected the pragmatic nature of the PRIME cohorts: while the heterogeneity in methods of recruitment was a consequence of differences in health systems and MHCPs, the use of the WHODAS as primary outcome measure will allow for comparison of functioning recovery across sites and disorders