IVF Babies’ Birth Outcomes are Influenced by Treatment Type and Diagnosis of Infertility

In a new study published in Fertility and Sterility, researchers observed that differences in obstetrical outcomes for singleton pregnancies in patients using assisted reproductive technology (ART) depend on which techniques the patients used and their infertility diagnoses.  These findings indicate that the uterine environment is perhaps the most important influence on the key outcomes of birth weight and length of gestation in ART pregnancies.

William Gibbons, MD and his colleagues Marcelle Cedars, MD and Roberta Ness, MD, MPH reviewed data collected by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SART) for the years 2004 through 2006 and compared average birth weight and gestational age for singletons born as a result of standard IVF, IVF with donor eggs, and IVF with a gestational carrier.  The data were further analyzed in relation to the patient’s primary diagnosis and whether donor sperm or sperm from the patient’s partner were used.

They found that the birth weight associated with standard In Vitro Fertilization (in which the patient carried the embryo created with her own egg) was greater than that associated with donor egg cycles and less than that in gestational carrier cycles.  This finding held true even when other factors, including mother’s age, number of fetal heartbeats in the first trimester, and male factor were considered.  While a diagnosis of male factor infertility did not affect birth weight or gestational age, every “female” diagnosis was associated with lower birth weight and, except for “unexplained” infertility, a reduced gestational age.  Patients diagnosed with “uterine factor” had babies with the lowest birth weights and gestational ages.

The uterine environment as related to treatment type was also considered. In standard IVF an embryo is transferred to a woman who has just undergone controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, while in donor egg IVF and gestational carrier IVF, the embryo is transferred to a “natural” or unstimulated uterus.  Therefore the researchers looked at IVF utilizing frozen embryo transfer- in which an embryo created with a patient’s own egg is transferred to her own unstimulated uterus- for additional information. They found that babies born of frozen embryo transfer cycles had markedly greater birth weights than those born as a result of standard IVF.

R. Stan Williams, MD, President of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, observed, “The study shows that many interrelated factors affect the health of babies conceived using ART.  Studies like this one increase our understanding and show us where further research may enable us to improve outcomes for our patients.”

Source: American Society for Reproductive Medicine

Stem cells in Cosmetic Surgery

Chicago – We’ve all heard stories about medical breakthroughs involving stem cells in recent years. But stem cells and cosmetic surgery?

“We’ve learned that your own fat is a great source for stem cells,” says Dr. Mark Berman, MD, President of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. “With our current technology, we can harvest fat and actually separate the stem cells.”

While progress with stem cells is in the early stages, cosmetic surgeons will be one of the principal players in this new segment of medicine.

In cosmetic surgery, a patient’s fat can be fortified with stem cells and used for procedures to rejuvenate the face, eyelids, hands, breast augmentation, buttock augmentation and more. Many cosmetic surgeons perform liposuction already, and they will likely be the foundation for many stem cell procedures in the near future.

“Not only will this be the next major plateau in cosmetic surgery, this is likely to represent the next major breakthrough in medicine in general,” Dr. Berman says.

Source: American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery

Teeth Bleaching in Argentina: New Method Developed

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Researchers at the University of Granada have developed a new method for predicting the precise shade that a teeth bleaching will bring about for a patient’s teeth. What is innovative about this method is that it allows researchers to successfully predict the outcome of a bleaching treatment, which will have a significant impact on such treatments, which are becoming more frequent.

At present, dental offices routinely employ carbomide peroxide bleaching agents for tooth discoloration. As bleaching treatments have soft side effects –all of them temporary and mild– and are relatively cost-effective, they have become very popular.

While bleaching treatments have been long applied, one of its main problems has been the inability to predict the outcome of the process. This means that, so far, dentists have been unable to predict the results for patients’ teeth. This means that dental physicians could not inform their patients on the shade improvement that the treatment would bring about, which was a limitation to the therapy.

Teeth Bleaching

The study was conducted by Janiley Santana Díaz, at the Department of Stomatology of the University of Granada and was coordinated by professors Rosa Mª Pulgar Encinas, Mª Del Mar Pérez Gómez and Luis Javier Herrera Maldonado. Using a fuzzy rule system, scientists had a first approach to the shade improvement that teeth can get after undergoing a 20% carbamide peroxide treatment (Opalescence® PF 20%, Ultradent) two hours a day for two weeks.

Participants

For the purpose of this study, authors took a sample of 53 subjects that subsequently underwent a teeth bleaching treatment. Before the bleaching treatment, participants answered a questionnaire on their eating habits so that scientists analyzed whether such habits had any impact on the prediction models. The researchers found that eating habits are not relevant to such models, so these factors where not considered in the study.

To illustrate the shade change expected after the teeth bleaching treatment, the University of Granada researchers designed a fuzzy system that allows to associate these instrumental measures to the commercial shade guides typically used at dental offices to identify the before-and-after tooth color.

Such association allows to establish a series of objective guidelines that, once the before-tooth color is identified with the closest shade of the guide, will allow both dentist and patient to predict the color that the teeth will get after the treatment.

All in all, researchers warn that, in the long term and given the limitation of any clinical trial, a wider range of patients and initial tooth colors would be required to obtain a more precise fuzzy system.