1/5. Impact of chemical warfare with agent orange on women's reproductive lives in vietnam: a pilot study.During the American war in vietnam, huge quantities of the highly toxic herbicide dioxin ('Agent Orange'), were sprayed over large areas of central and south vietnam. In addition to polluting the environment and causing cancers and other diseases in those directly exposed to it, dioxin has caused high rates of pregnancy loss, congenital birth defects and other health problems in their children. This paper reports the findings of a pilot study in the year 2000 among 30 Vietnamese women whose husbands and/or who themselves were exposed to Agent Orange. The aim was to develop research in order to explore the impact of chemical warfare on people's lives. Using the reproductive lifeline and semi-structured interviews, information was gathered on both partners' periods of exposure to Agent Orange, pregnancy outcomes, perceived health problems of children and experiences of living with handicapped children. The women had had a high number of miscarriages and premature births. About two-thirds of their children had congenital malformations or developed disabilities within the first years of life. Most of the families were poor, aggravated by impaired health in the men, the burden of caring for disabled children, and feelings of guilt and inferiority. The plight of 'Agent Orange families' is special and should be placed in its historical and political context.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cancer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/5. Abdominal radical trachelectomy during pregnancy to preserve pregnancy and fertility.BACKGROUND: For 10,000-40,000 women each year, cervical cancer complicates pregnancy. Current therapy usually terminates the pregnancy and results in the loss of future fertility. Abdominal radical trachelectomy is a fertility-preserving alternative to radical hysterectomy for young women with cervical cancer. CASES: We report five pregnancies complicated by cervical cancer treated by abdominal radical trachelectomy with preservation of the concurrent pregnancy and the birth of two healthy term infants. CONCLUSION: pregnancy complicated by concurrent cervical cancer can be managed with abdominal radical trachelectomy during pregnancy while preserving future fertility.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4keywords = cancer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/5. adenocarcinoma of the endometrium associated with intrauterine pregnancy.A case of adenocarcinoma of the endometrium discovered during curettage of inevitable abortion is described and seven instances with the association of fundal cancer and intrauterine pregnancy are reviewed. In half of the eight patients including the present case, a complication of pregnancy led to the discovery of the tumor; in the remaining four instances, the gestation occurred incidentally in a patient known to have a fundal cancer. All the seven neoplasms previously reported were well-differentiated, minimally or noninvasive adenocarcinoma or adenoacanthoma, while the tumor of the present case was moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma which invaded into about one-half of the myometrium. progesterone-induced histologic findings, such as secretory differentiation of glands, mitotic arrest, and decidual reaction of stromal cells, were not noted. prognosis of the patients with this association seems to be good. Follow-up on five of the seven previously reported cases indicates that four are well more than 5 years. The present patient is also well more than 5 years after hysterectomy and pelvic irradiation therapy. There is only one patient who has died of recurrence 3 years after definitive therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = cancer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/5. health problems of anaesthetists and their families in the West Midlands.A survey of all anaesthetists in the West Midlands region--that is, 10% of all the anaesthetists in england and wales--showed that one in 10 of their children had been referred to a consultant because of a congenital or nonacquired anomaly. Abortions among anaesthetists' families were also common but more so when the mother was an anaesthetist. The anomalies were concentrated particularly in the central nervous system and musculoskeletal system, and girls were worst affected. The mean birth weights were below normal, more so when the mothers were anaesthetists. Girls with anomalies were particularly underweight. Other effects observed were unexpected infertility, cancer both in the adults and in the children, and, possibly, impaired intellectual development in the children. Many anaesthetising areas were inadequately ventilated, and scavenging devices despite their inefficiency are recommended as a stopgap measure. The results of the study closely resemble those of other studies with similar high response rates to requests for information.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cancer (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/5. Spontaneous resolution of ectopic pregnancy in a surrogate after oocyte donation and frozen embryo transfer.A case of tubal pregnancy in a young and healthy woman participating in a programme of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) gestational surrogacy is reported. The gestational surrogate was the 30 year old fertile sister of a 25 year old patient affected by stage 1 ovarian cancer. After mandatory oncological consultation, the donor was recommended to prospectively undergo controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycles for embryo banking before being treated by total hysterectomy. Available embryos were cryopreserved and after adequate endometrial preparation using artificial cycles of hormone replacement therapy, three thawed frozen embryos were transferred to the surrogate. At 17 days following embryo transfer the surrogate was noted to have a negative beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) serum concentration. All medication was suspended and a few days later normal menstrual bleeding occurred. After 2 weeks, the beta-HCG concentrations, performed as part of routine follow-up evaluation, were showing signs of trophoblast activity (236 mIU/ml). Taking into account the stable condition of the patient, a decision was made to undertake expectant management. At 43 days after embryo transfer, a complete tubal abortion was apparently seen in the posterior cul-de-sac by ultrasound associated with a subtle and short lasting pelvic pain. We stress that this ectopic gestation was able to maintain prolonged viability in conditions of absent corpus luteum and exogenous steroid supplementation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cancer (Clic here for more details about this article) |