1,720,960 research outputs found
Updates in office hysteroscopy: a practical decalogue to perform a correct procedure
No full textNowadays, hysteroscopy is the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of intrauterine pathologies as it represents a
safe and minimally invasive procedure that allows the visualization of the entire uterine cavity. Numerous technological
innovations have occurred over the past few years, contributing to the development and widespread use of this technique.
In particular, the new small-diameter hysteroscopes are equipped with an operating channel in which different mechanical
instruments can be inserted, and they allow not only to examine the cervical canal and uterine cavity but also to perform
biopsies or treat benign diseases in a relatively short time without anesthesia and in an outpatient setting. In this scenario,
the operator must be able to perform hysteroscopy in the correct way to make this procedure increasingly safe and painless
for the patient. This review aims to describe the ten steps to perform a correct office hysteroscopy, starting from patient counseling to the therapy after the procedure
Virtual sonographic hysteroscopy in assisted reproduction: A retrospective cost-effectiveness analysis
No full textObjective: To analyze the cost-effectiveness of virtual sonographic hysteroscopy (VSH) performed before in vitro fertilization (IVF) (Scenario 1), frozen embryo transfer (Scenario 2), and oocyte donation (Scenario 3) attempts.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of data extracted from patients' files was conducted. Before undergoing the assigned treatment, VSH was offered to all patients. Cost-effectiveness was calculated on the basis of cost per live birth. The total cost was compared with a control group of patients who declined to have hysteroscopy before their treatment.
Results: A total of 292 women were involved. Virtual sonographic hysteroscopy was performed in 192 women. Conventional operative hysteroscopy was subsequently required in 34 of them (17.7%). Subsequent assisted reproduction attempts resulted in live birth in 111 women-34/69 (49.3%), 35/69 (50.7%), and 42/54 (77.8%) in Scenarios 1, 2, and 3, respectively. This compared favorably with 100 women who declined VSH, with live birth achieved in 15/39 (38.5%), 14/37 (37.8%), and 15/24 (62.5%) in Scenarios 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The overall cost-effectiveness of VSH compared favorably with straightforward treatment performed without this test.
Conclusion: The overall cost-effectiveness of treatment attempts carried out after previous VSH compared favorably with straightforward treatment performed without this test
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Reproductive outcomes of infertile women undergoing "see and treat" office hysteroscopy: a retrospective observational study
No full textIntroduction: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and efficacy of office hysteroscopy to diagnose and treat the specific uterine pathologies frequently diagnosed and thought to be
associated with female infertility.
Material and methods: Using office hysteroscopy, we examined the uterine cavity in women
with primary or secondary infertility and evaluated the reproductive outcomes of those affected
by one or more pathologies, including cervico-isthmic adhesions, intrauterine polyps and intrauterine
adhesions. Additional patient characteristics considered were age and parity, uterine
pathology, pain during hysteroscopy, and outcomes including spontaneous pregnancies
achieved and time between treatment and pregnancy.
Results: Reproductive outcomes of 200 patients affected by one or more uterine pathologies
were evaluated. Cervico-isthmic adhesions were the most frequent findings in older women,
with nearly 80% of them achieving pregnancy sooner than the others in our study.
Spontaneous pregnancy rates following office hysteroscopy were 76%, 53% and 22% in women
with cervico-isthmic adhesions, polyps (< 5mm) and intrauterine adhesions, respectively.
Conclusions: Office hysteroscopy is a feasible and highly effective diagnostic and therapeutic
procedure for cervico-isthmic and intrauterine adhesions, as well as for small polyps, allowing
the resolution of female infertility related to these pathologies, without trauma and with only
minimal discomfort
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Unified diagnostic criteria for chronic endometritis at fluid hysteroscopy: proposal and reliability evaluation through an international randomized-controlled observer study
No full textObjective: To develop a consensus on the diagnostic criteria for chronic endometritis (CE) at hysteroscopy (HSC), and to evaluate these
proposed criteria in a randomized-controlled observer study.
Design: Systematic review of studies evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of HSC in CE diagnosis; Delphi consensus on hysteroscopic
diagnostic criteria for CE; randomized-controlled observer study to evaluate the reproducibility of the proposed diagnostic criteria.
Setting: Not applicable.
Participant(s): Experts from different countries were involved in the systematic review and contributed to the Delphi consensus. Physicians
from different countries were involved in the observer study.
Intervention(s): After reaching consensus on the diagnostic criteria, the Delphi poll created a questionnaire including 100 hysteroscopic
pictures (50 from women with CE [domain 1] and 50 from women without CE [domain 2]), with a single question per picture (Answer_A:
suggestive of CE; answer B: not suggestive of CE). A total of 200 physicians were invited to take part in the observer study. Before completing
the questionnaire, physicians were randomized to receive a description of the diagnostic criteria (group A) or no such information (group B).
Main Outcome Measure(s): The primary outcome was to compare the questionnaire scores for the two groups of observers. The secondary
outcome was to assess the interobserver agreement in the diagnosis of CE in each group.
Result(s): A total of 126 physicians completed the questionnaire (62 in group A and 64 in group B). Observers in group A obtained
higher total scores compared with those in group B (P<.001). Specifically, group A showed higher mean score in domain 1
(P<.001), but not in domain 2 (P1⁄4.975). A substantial agreement was found among observers in group A (intraclass correlation coefficient
[ICC] 0.78), whereas a fair agreement was found among observers in group B (ICC 0.40).
Conclusion(s): This randomized-controlled observer study found a positive impact of our criteria on physicians' ability to recognize
CE
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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