Abortion in France in 1977

This update of legal abortion in France begins with the history of abortion, the French abortion law, and application since its passage in 1975, and evaluates current acceptance by French physicians. In France, abortion was outlawed in 1923, with the highest numbers of convictions, 5521, in 1946. Increasingly since the late 1960s, the law was neither heeded nor enforced, resulting in a new liberalized law passed in 1975, and put into effect over the next 2 years. Some of the difficulties encountered in implementing legal abortion were: the decision to permit abortion only in approved hospitals, rather than to allow establishment of abortion clinics; resistance of many hospitals or individuals against performing abortions; fixed prices for physicians fees (160 F.) and quotas of 25% of the total surgical and obstetrical patient load; regional variations in availability of abortion; and waiting periods. These problems have led to continuation of black market abortions, fraud in reporting numbers of abortions performed, and have forced some women to travel to other regions of the country or to other countries to obtain safe abortions. Only the 1975 figures are available: there were 45,085 legal abortions, 32,923 in public hospitals and 12,792 in private hospitals. Abortions are easily obtained in large cities and the Southeast, Central and Breton regions but less so in the North and Southwest.     

Differences in female and male perception of information and decision-making in single-embryo transfer in in vitro fertilization in Sweden

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the information and the factors that contribute to the decision to accept and choose single embryo transfer (SET) in females and males. Materials and methods Fifty-four females and males undergoing SET were interviewed separately using a structured questionnaire. Results The women were significantly more satisfied with the information than the men (odds ratio 3.3), but the decision to accept SET was nevertheless more difficult for women (OR 3.1). Only one-third of both female and males were aware of the increased maternal risks with twin pregnancies. There was a tendency that the women who accepted SET had previous children, shorter duration of infertility, and were younger. Cryopreservation of embryos and a good pregnancy chance were important irrespective of gender. Conclusion The female needs more support to choose SET. The male needs better information and further involvement in decision-making. The females were more aware of the fetal risks, but the awareness of the increased maternal risks with twin pregnancies was low. The female need more support to accept and choose single embryo transfer, compared to the male and information should in some areas be directed differently to females and males.     

Changes in lipid metabolism in pregnancy in relation to gestoses

In 21 healthy pregnant women and 21 women with toxemias in pregnancy between 34 and 36 gestational weeks were the following parameters lipid metabolism have been analyzed: triglyceride, cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol. The lipid data of the healthy pregnant women did not differ significantly from these of the hypertensive women. A tendency to lesser quantities at HDL cholesterol has been observed in the group of women with toxemias. We did not find any reference to a connexion between changes in lipid metabolism and the development of toxemias in pregnancy. The hyperlipidemia of pregnancy is probably a physiological process because of the hyperestrogenism in pregnancy.     

Antibiotic usage in community-acquired infections in hospitals in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Using an epidemiologically meaningful in-hospital population with community-acquired infections, we evaluated antibiotic therapy in terms of indication and choice of antibiotic and microbiologic work-up. METHODS: Infectious disease specialists evaluated charts of 436 patients from 9 hospitals and selected those who received antibiotics within 3 days of admission. Each antibiotic prescribed was marked for appropriateness of indication and choice. Microbiologic isolates were evaluated for their clinical significance. RESULTS: The most common infections were in the lower respiratory tract (46.1%). Each patient received a mean of 2.25 antibiotics for 8.1 +/- 6.4 days. Of the 975 courses of antibiotics given in the study period, indication and choice were correct in 37.4% and unsatisfactory in 14.5%. The vast majority of antibiotics used (79.2%) were first-line antibiotics--usually first-generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, and aminopenicillins. Most patients (66%) had a microbiology laboratory work-up, but only 37.4% were judged by evaluators to have a meaningful microbiologic diagnosis. Among the 201 patients with lower respiratory tract infections, 105 (52.2%) had a diagnosis of pneumonia. A positive isolate was recovered in 30 (28.6%) patients, and most of these isolates (20, 68.7%) were aerobic gram-negative rods. There were three positive blood cultures but none grew Streptococcus pneumoniae. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotics were used excessively in number and duration. The microbiologic work-up had little effect on the indication and choice of antibiotics. Community-acquired pneumonia differed markedly from that in Western countries in that only 3.3% were caused by S. pneumoniae.     

Heterogeneity in patient populations explains differences in in vitro fertilization programs

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). DESIGN: Two different models for pregnancy rates in IVF-ET have been developed: a beta-geometric model and a split population model. SETTINGS: All IVF cycles were performed at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: All patients undergoing 1,257 IVF-ET cycles performed between the years 1983 through 1987. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The probability of achieving a viable pregnancy per cycle. RESULTS: Because both models provide excellent explanations for our data distribution, the decline in the conditional probability of achieving pregnancy after a given number of unsuccessful cycles may be inferred. CONCLUSIONS: These findings question the justification of continuing IVF-ET treatment beyond some threshold number of cycles.     

Alterations in immune responsiveness in women exposed to diethylstilbestrol in utero

In order to study the effect of in utero diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure on the immune system of adult women, the blastogenic response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to two mitogens was compared in eight DES-exposed patients and in eight age-matched controls with normal menstrual cycles and proven fertility. As measured by the uptake of 3H-thymidine (mean [+/- standard error]), response to the T-cell mitogen phytohemagglutin (PHA) was significantly higher (P less than 0.002) in cells of DES-exposed women (88.6 +/- 5.7 X 10(3) cpm) than in controls (44.0 +/- 8.9 X 10(3) cpm) at the lowest dose of mitogen tested (0.125 microgram/ml). Moreover, lymphocytes of DES-exposed subjects showed maximal blastogenic response to PHA at a concentration (0.125 microgram/ml) two to four times lower (P less than 0.002) than controls (0.25 microgram/ml to 0.5 microgram/ml). Cells of both DES-exposed subjects and controls were maximally responsive to pokeweed mitogen (PWM) at the lowest dose tested (0.625 microgram/ml). These findings suggest that in utero DES exposure is associated with a hyper-reactive immune response during the reproductive years.