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The first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born in a natural cycle IVF of a woman who had bilateral tubal block making IVF the only option for having a child. The last 3 decades has seen astounding progress in the field of ART. Today thanks to ART, tubal disease and tubal factor infertility is easily overcome. The accepted theory today is that the hydrosalpinx fluid plays a causative role in the reduced pregnancy rate with ART. It is well known that the success of ART for patients with tubal disease with hydrosalpinx is reduced by half compared with patients without hydrosalpinx. Ideal would be removal of a hydrosalpinx by laparoscopic salpingectomy to improve pregnancy rates. However in some cases this is not feasible due to dense pelvic adhesions making access difficult. In such cases it is recommended that even de-linking the tube from the uterus would help in improving the ART outcome. There is suggestion that sonographically visible hydrosalpinges and those affected bilaterally have a poorer prognosis than those seen incidentally at laparoscopy. While there is clinical evidence supporting the causative role of the fluid itself, there is a lack of knowledge as to how the fluid exerts its negative effects. It is generally believed that the fluid holds a key position in impairing implantation potential. The aim of this review is to highlight the importance of identifying hydrosalpinges and its association with reduced fertility outcome using assisted reproductive technologies. Here we have discussed the different options available for the same, and highlighted the current modes of treatment.

The objective of this study was to examine experiences and service delivery of private medical doctors participating in a professional network designed to improve knowledge and service quality of medical abortion (MA) procedures. A cross-sectional assessment of 87 Medical Abortion Provider Network (MAPnet) participants was conducted between December 2006 and January 2007 to describe participants' service delivery and network experiences. After participating in MAPnet, providers reported a statistically significant amount of more MA services (92%), national protocol adherence for timing of drug administration (93%) and drug dosage protocols (82%) when compared to their reports before MAPnet affiliation. In addition, MAPnet providers offered contraceptive counselling (100%) and pain management (54%). Nearly three-quarters of providers were interested in continuing their association with the network initiatives. However, the network failed to adequately facilitate inter-network sharing of knowledge and experiences. These findings suggest that establishing and nurturing a network of private medical doctors can improve availability and quality of safe and early abortion services through MA.

With advancing technology of assisted reproduction, physicians today have the ability to achieve conception in many couples who would have been totally incapable doing so only a few years ago. The anxiety and the uncertainty of pregnancy outcomes using ART procedures is widely accepted as one of the main psychological stresses the couples. The ability to predict outcome as soon as possible after assisted conception treatment is important for clinic staff and patients. The aim of this observational study is to highlight the importance of hCG values in predicting the outcome of ART cycle and counseling the patients in case of adverse result. The ultimate aim is to improve the take home baby rate and initial hCG value can help us counsel our patients towards the ultimate outcome. Embryo development in early pregnancy follows a preprogrammed-timing schedule and depends mainly on the embryonic age of the healthy, successfully implanted conceptus. The appearance of hCG in maternal serum is used to assess the time of clinically detectable implantation. bhCG has provided the best sensitivity and specificity for detection of normal and pathological pregnancies. After IVF, early pregnancy loss or multiple gestations may be predicted with high sensitivity and specificity by using cutoff values of serum hCG. The median HCG concentration was 116 IU/l in viable pregnancies and 31 IU/l in nonviable pregnancies. The median hCG concentration in twin pregnancies was almost double that in singleton pregnancies (201 IU/l vs 116 IU/l). Thus we can reassure normally pregnant patients as well as filter and manage those with nonviable outcomes more efficiently.