This randomized controlled trial tested the hypothesis that addition of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) can increase the probability of pregnancy in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles using the long agonist protocol. Women undergoing ICSI cycles due to male factor were randomly assigned to receive either long protocol (group A, 38 women) or long protocol plus NAC (group B, 38 women). Clinical pregnancy was the primary outcome. Granulosa cell apoptosis, fertilization rate, number of grade-one embryos and ongoing pregnancy were the secondary outcomes. Clinical pregnancy rate was insignificantly higher in NAC group (52.6%) than control (47.4%). Early and late apoptosis were also insignificantly lower in group B than in group A. Irrespective of the used protocol, there was significant negative correlation between both early and late apoptosis and fertilization rate (both P<0.001) and the number of good-quality embryos (P=0.007 and P<0.001, respectively). Pregnant patients had significantly lower early and late apoptosis than those who didn't achieve pregnancy (P<0.001). In conclusion, NAC supplementation did not significantly increase the probability of pregnancy in ICSI cycles using long agonist protocol. It appears that granulosa cell apoptosis may be an important prognosticator for ICSI cycle outcome.

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Background: Prior to a first-trimester abortion, a vaginal misoprostol administration has been shown to have less adverse effects than either an oral or sublingual dose. Objective: The aim of the current work was to determine whether a combined therapy with isosorbide mononitrate and misoprostol for preoperative cervical ripening in the first trimester would result in improved clinical effectiveness and fewer side effects compared with misoprostol used alone. Patients and methods: This randomized clinical trial study included a total of 54 women with first trimester missed abortion between 7-12 weeks, attending at

Objective: To compare the degree of difficulty and outcome measures of hysteroscopic myomectomy of submucous fibroid according to 2 classification systems. Methods: This prospective study conducted in the Cytogenetic & Endoscopy unit, Zagazig University Hospitals during the period from July 2009 to July 2012, included 100 patients candidates for hysteroscopic resection of submucous fibroids. All fibroids were diagnosed and assessed by saline infusion sonohysterography and diagnostic hysteroscopy. Presurgical classification was performed according to the two classification systems; the European Society of Endoscopic Surgery (ESES)-considering only the penetration of the fibroid into the myometrium -and STEPW considering size, topography, extension, penetration and wall affected. Primary outcome measure was incomplete resection of the fibroid. Secondary outcome measures were operating time (in minutes), the fluid deficit (in milliliters) and any intraoperative complications. Sensitivity, specificity and kappa measure of agreement were calculated for each classification at their best cut off. P value less than 0.05 is considered significant. Results: Myomectomy was considered incomplete in 8 out of 104 fibroids (7.7%) According to ESES, 2 belonged to type 0 and 6 belonged to type 1.Risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) was 0.56 (0.07-3.3) and the difference was not significant (p=0.7); whereas according to the STEPW classification, the incomplete myomectomies were one in group I (1/8, 12.5%) and seven in group II (7/8, 87.5%). The risk ratio (95% CI) was 0.02 (0.0-0.18) and the difference was significant (p= 0.000). Considering the area under the ROC curve, the dichotomized STEPW scores performed better than the dichotomized ESES scores (P<.001). Conclusion:The application of STEPW classification of submucous fibroid gives better prediction of myoma removal than ESES classification.